My dearly sainted father professor, whom many see as the human epitome of the Gospel, myself included, would often ask this question with regard to a Biblical text, especially in preparation for preaching or teaching: “How does this text give us Jesus?” With a text like this, it’s a good idea to ask Dr. Norman Nagel’s question: “How do the Beatitudes give us Jesus?” It is Jesus speaking them, part of His Sermon on the Mount, so how does Jesus give Himself to you in this text?

The simple answer is found right at the end where Jesus proclaims to His listeners, and you can include yourselves in that bunch, “Blessed are you…”

It might not be evident that He is speaking to those to whom He has given faith. And again, you can include yourselves in that bunch. “Blessed are you,” Jesus says, “when a bunch of really bad things happen to you because of Me—because of Me, because of what you are in me; you can rejoice in the midst of these bad things, in the very face of these bad things, because you are being numbered among the prophets who were before you and persecuted before you, who spoke of Me, and were blessed because of Me.” “Blessed are you,” Jesus says, “because of Me.” No one can be blessed unless they are numbered among the faithful—unless they are among those who have received and not rejected the faith God has to give, a faith which clings to the Christ and the great work He has accomplished for the salvation of the world by His death on the cross. No one can be blessed, except because of Christ, and that blessing can only be received from and through Christ.

Of course, then, the corollary to Dr. Nagel’s question is, “What gets in the way of the text giving us Jesus?”

Once again, the simple answer is found right at the end of today’s text: you! No, not they who revile you and persecute you and speak all manner of evil about you. The blessing is still there in spite of them. No, you get in the way of the blessing.

You see, there is that part of you who likes to take the Word of God and make it say something it doesn’t. Normally, this part is referred to as Old Adam, as if one could compartmentalize him, point to a part of your body and say, “This part is Old Adam.” Sadly, that’s not the case, for if it were, it would be something one could easily have removed, especially if the non-Old Adam part were much larger and could compensate, biologically, for the removal of the Old Adam part. No, your Old Adam infects all of you, and you participate in his scheming and lying and twisting of the truth. His sin is your sin. He gets in the way—that is to say, you get in the way—of this text (any text, really) giving you Jesus.

This happens by Old Adam hearing gospel and twisting it into law, and this typically some sort of manageable law. It’s the type of thing you can find happening in churches all over the world when they seek to scratch itching ears (cf. 2 Timothy 4:3); congregations more concerned about putting butts in pews and dollars in the plate than the Word of God in the listeners’ ears. In so doing, that which is sweet and comforting—the Word of grace and truth—is turned into something you must do if you want to please God and receive from Him a reward—receive from Him a blessing.

Today’s text is no different, and is, perhaps, a prime example and target of this twisting. For in today’s text, the sweet and comforting Word of Grace and Truth speaks,

In short, and as simply stated earlier, “Blessed are you…for My sake.”

But Old Adam hears it, and twists it to hear it according to the law:

In other words, in order to be blessed, there is a measuring stick to live up to, an eight- or twelve-step program to follow. And if it is followed, then one can be assured of receiving God’s blessing and the gifts He has to give.

The problem with this is two-fold.

For one, it creates a false sense of pride: “Look how blessed I am because how poor in spirit I am,” or, “how mournful I am,” or, “how meek I am,” (how ironic) or, “how merciful I am,” etc. It turns you into the Pharisee who went into the temple to pray, and there thanked God that he was not like other, contemptible men. (cf. Luke 18:9-12)

For another, it does away with Christ. Or, as has been said already, it gets in the way of the text giving you Jesus. After all, if you can be blessed by God simply by being poor in spirit, mournful, meek, merciful, peacemaking, etc., what need do you have for the Christ as Mediator and Redemption? If you can be blessed simply by your own work, why do you need Jesus to give you blessing? Jesus is in the text giving Himself to you, and you say, “No thanks, I got it covered.”

It can be said that you can be saved (that you can be blessed) by obedience to the Law of God. But, it has to be perfect obedience; one little slip-up, intentional or otherwise, and your through. There is no wiggle room nor any middle ground—do it all precisely and perfectly from beginning to end, backward and forward, for your entire life and in your entire person, and you have saved yourself. The sad truth to this two-fold problem is that one can never be sure how poor in spirit is enough, how meek is enough, or if one has been perfectly pure in heart (even a little impurity is still impurity—99.999% pure is still .001% impure). One can never be sure that they “have it covered.” Therefore, no one can be sure that by their keeping of the law—that by their attempt at keeping the law—they have God’s blessing. There is no eight- or twelve-step program that can assure anyone that they have God’s favor.

No, the sweet and comforting Word of grace and truth is twisted into something that ultimately leaves the hearer empty. It takes the Word of hope and removes the hope.

No, dear hearers, here is the truth. “Blessed are you…because of Me,” as Jesus proclaimed. The sweet and comforting Word of grace and truth is that God is at work in His Son despite “them” getting in the way and reviling, persecuting, and speaking all manner of evil against you, and He is still at work in His Son despite you getting in the way of the text giving you Jesus. Old Adam may twist the Word of Truth into some sort of manageable law, but it still remains the Word of Truth as originally given, and does exactly what God intends it to do. (cf. Isaiah 55:11)

And it is the Word of Truth which proclaims this: you cannot perfectly keep the entire Law of God. You cannot and will not be perfectly poor in spirit, mournful, meek, hungry and thirsty for righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, or peaceful. You cannot and will not be perfectly righteous. That is the Word of Truth of God’s Law, which always accuses you—yeah Old Adam…you—of being the sinner that you are. And, thanks be to God, the Word of Truth continues, “God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” (Galatians 4:4-5)

So, if through Him you been redeemed and have received the adoption as sons, then He must have perfectly been a peacemaker. The Word of God reveals, as St. Paul declares, that, “[W]hile we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life” (cf. Romans 5:10); the Word of God reveals that and so much more. For Christ was perfectly mournful, perfectly meek and humble, perfectly pure in heart, perfectly merciful. He was reviled and persecuted, as His prophets before Him were. And all of it was for you, born under the law, to redeem you and give to you the adoption as sons. In Him is the kingdom of heaven yours; in Him is your comfort, your fill of righteousness, your mercy; in Him do you see God—His love for you, His blessing for you.

Christ has come to live and die for you; live perfectly obedient and subject to His own Law for you, and die for your perfect disobedience and insubordination to His Law. He has come that your Old Adam would by daily contrition and repentance drown, be done away with, be removed, die with all sins and evil lusts, so that daily a new man would come forth and live before God in righteousness and purity forever. This He has done for you—this is Jesus giving Himself to you; or, as He said it, “Blessed are you…because of Me.” In other words, you are forgiven for all of your sins.

His was a life seemingly filled with setbacks and continual difficulty. And it all started while He was still in the womb.

Mary was with child by the Holy Spirit. Joseph, who was pledge to be her husband, was filled with doubt and confusion. “She’s pregnant, but I didn’t do it. What will the people think if I take her to be my wife while she’s pregnant? Or, better yet, what will they think if we get married and the baby is already here?” So, he sought to divorce her quietly. How could he take Mary and the baby to be his own?

Next, after Jesus had been born, and while He was still an infant, there was a call for his life. Herod demanded the lives of all newborn males in order to keep his power on the throne. So, off to Egypt does this trio ventured, Joseph having overcome his doubt and confusion by a vision from God. “[O]ut of Egypt I called My son,” (Hosea 11:1) the prophet declared. Word fulfilled.

But it didn’t stop there. What happened immediately after Jesus was baptized? He was led off into the wilderness by the Spirit, and, having fasted for 40 days, He was tempted by Satan. The adversary offered Him all kinds of riches and treasures and power if He would only have renounced His mission, renounced His Father, and worshiped Satan. “You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve,” (cf. Deuteronomy 6:13) the Word declares. Satan left Him, and Jesus was still true to His mission and His Father. Word fulfilled.

Maybe the temptation served as a distraction. During the time He was in the wilderness fasting and being tempted, powers had seized His cousin. John had just baptized Jesus, then he was thrown in prison. Setbacks and difficulty—one upon another—followed this man, Jesus. And not all of them were to Him, but He certainly could have been blamed for them. He did not have an easy life; but such was His lot in life, for it is as the prophets declared, and so the Word is fulfilled.

Trouble seemed to follow Him wherever He went. Some other man might have secluded Himself—become a recluse—removed Himself in order to keep his troubles away from those he loved; probably might have attempted to run away from those problems himself. Then, a glance at the text this morning may surprise you, for it looks like He did just that: “And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali…” He withdrew to the north, far away from the Jews, far away from His home of Nazareth, far away from Jerusalem and the temple, and made a home in Capernaum, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali.

But, just what is it about Zebulun and Naphtali? You likely recognize those as names of two of the tribes of Israel. These are the northern-most regions of Israel. It was choice land—beautiful landscapes, fertile soil, nice climate, the Sea of Galilee was right there—this area had a lot going for it. That was, of course, until the split. The ten northern tribes divorced themselves from the two southern tribes, and there were two kingdoms. Unfortunately for the northern kingdom, their neighbors were growing in political and military power. Assyria would come and conquer the northern kingdom, beginning in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali. They were living in the land of the shadow of death!

These two tribes, along with the eight other northern tribes, were taken into captivity, becoming the ten lost tribes of Israel. Other people were placed there by the captors to populate the northern lands, almost all of mixed descent. These mixed breeds, descendants of Assyrian captives, would become moral enemies of the Jews: Samaritans. Some might have had some Hebrew ancestry, but even they wouldn’t know from which tribe they were descended, so they would all be outsiders—not the Chosen People—Gentiles—even worse than Gentiles. So, it became a region rightly hailed by the prophet as “Galilee of the Gentiles.” Interestingly, some Jews did live in Galilee; it was, after all, a part of the Roman Empire at the time of Jesus, so much so that it was known as a Jewish fishing village in the time of Jesus. Nevertheless, it was in the land of the Samaritan Gentiles, probably populated by a pretty diverse and somewhat tolerant population.

That is where Jesus went. But did He withdraw? No, in fact, He fulfilled the Word of God (as St. Matthew repeatedly reminds you); this time, as proclaimed by Isaiah: “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.” And despite all His setbacks and difficulty, Jesus pressed on, preaching His cousin’s message in that area, a light shining on the people living in darkness, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

And the people listened and followed! He was out expanding His kingdom, finding His people wherever they were to be found. Matthew wrote of four, specifically, that He found: Peter, Andrew, James, and John. He was out preaching repentance, teaching in synagogues, healing diseases, and restoring broken bodies as he traveled from town to town. He was shining His light on Jews and Gentiles—a light of revelation to the Gentiles—the light of faith; they believed and followed.

His means seem inefficient. After all, if He was God, He could have waved His arms and made believers out of the entire region, indeed, of the entire world. But, as Naaman the leper discovered, God works by a simple means: His Word. (cf. 2 Kings 5) With His Word, He created the universe, and with His Word, He creates faith and eternal life in all who would believe.

Jesus was in the land of darkness bringing light. He was present among the people of the nations telling them that they are not forgotten. He was in the land of the shadow of death to bring light and life, not as a conqueror or mighty, earthly king, but as a gracious, soft-spoken king. He was easily missed, but He preached repentance. Truly, this land has been the stomping grounds for blood-thirsty conquerors, and it will be again when the Romans armies come through once more 40 years later, but at that moment, the King of Life was among them, creating faith in all who would listen to His Word and giving them eternal life.

I could go on and on about life in the shadow of death in Zebulun and Naphtali. Those who wished to sack Jerusalem found easy access through the north—through this region. But the reality of mortality that you experience is no less real than what the Zebulunites and Naphtalites knew. Everyone, here in the United States and around the rest of the world, also live in the land of the shadow of death. The threats to your lives are very real: floods, icy roads, freak accidents, terrorists, murderers, deranged gunmen, heart attacks, cancer, drunk drivers…the list goes on and on.

Even in this modern, more-civilized and evolved society, death continues to strike. Yet, all too often, it is forcefully ignored or cheerfully embraced.

Tragedies and atrocities are horrible, horrible things. People are interested in what’s going on from a pity stand point and because it’s hard to take one’s eyes away from a trainwreck, but you can only endure so much heartache before you become desirous for what’s positive. That’s when you look away; that’s when you want to ignore the pain and suffering and death of the world around you. Because maybe if you ignore the reality of the situation—that people have died—death doesn’t seem so imminent. So, death becomes easily ignored, but that doesn’t mean that death doesn’t exist and is coming after you, too.

Still, ironically, death is also an ally. Death by floods or terrorists is a horrible thing—so society acknowledges—but society has also befriended death. Even though the decision was overturned recently, January 22, 1973, 53 years ago, marked a turning point in which death was embraced as a means of improving quality of life as the Supreme Court issued an opinion that essentially legalized abortion. Since then, so many lives have been lost to the holocaust of abortion and continue to be so as it is still viewed and hailed as “healthcare.” And, as the indifference to the helpless life in the womb increases, so does indifference to the helpless life outside the womb as more and more places legalize or turn a blind eye toward assisted suicide and even euthanasia.

Welcome to Zebulun and Naphtali. You are in the land of the shadow of death.

Death is always looming, knocking at your doors. You see and read the reports of tragedies and atrocities such as the floods and earthquakes, shootings at schools, accidents on the highways, and everything else that happens tens or hundreds or thousands of miles from here and you feel pity: “poor them.” But then the shadow of death makes its appearance in your own lives: the diagnosis of a terminal illness, the death of a loved one, the car accident involving a friend. These serve to remind you that death is an enemy that stalks even you. It can be discouraging, even depressing—no wonder many seek to deny it or embrace it as a kind friend: the world is full of desperate, despairing, hopeless people!

Frightening in all this is that this is only physical death I am talking about. The hordes of conquerors that visited Zebulun and Naphtali certainly ended the earthly lives of thousands of people. The tragedies and atrocities that happen today, without a doubt, terminated the physical lives of many more thousands of people. Yet, hear what the Word of the Lord has to say: “[D]o not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28)

The myriad of tragedies that claim the lives of many, many people and the participation in the death of countless helpless people are but symptoms of a larger problem: sin. Here are people in open defiance of God’s Word stemming all the way back to Adam, through whom the whole earth (yes, even the land) was cursed! Those who continue to reject God’s grace are dead in their own trespasses and sin. It only makes sense that those who are dead will seek to find in death a friend and comforter.

Fear not, however, for God’s Word declares an even greater comfort and solace: “[T]he people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death,

There is no need for fear, because in this world that is darkened by sin, the Light of the World continues to come and illumine those who sit in darkness. He faithfully visits people, finding His own, be they hundreds or thousands of miles away or right in your own back yards. The Word of God spread as Jesus traveled from town to town in Zebulun and Naphtali. The Word of God was proclaimed to those sitting in darkness. It continues to be spread the same way. Jesus gathered His disciples and told them to go and make disciples of all nations, to spread His Word. The same still happens today as disciples of Jesus tell of the Word of God; through them, light shines on those sitting in darkness. People hear the Word and follow. They come to church to be Baptized, to receive Holy Absolution, and to receive the body and blood of the Word—to be forgiven of all their sins.

nd, just as it was back then, these means look simple and ineffective. But the Word of the Lord endures and is constant. He works through the same means, for by the same means He still creates faith and gives eternal life to all who would believe. Once again, He could wave His arms, flash some lightning, and, poof, make believers of the entire world. But that’s not the way God works; He works by His Word. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing of the Word of God (cf. Romans 10:17)—and so He is proclaimed: hope is announced as His all-availing sacrifice is proclaimed as that which saves people from their sins, and as His resurrection is heralded as that which gives you victory over death! It is as was said through the prophet Isaiah: “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:10-11) Word fulfilled!

So, despite the setbacks and difficulties encountered, the Word of God continues to visit His people, bringing with Him forgiveness of sins and life and salvation—the treasures He has won for you on the cross. He brings with Him hope for those living in the land of the shadow of death, hope because death is merely a shadow for those who have received the Word of God. Yes, it is dark and frightening, but for those who die in Christ, it passes and is gone, for the Word of God declares:

Yes, this is a dying world. In it, death is feared; death is befriended; death is means of improving quality of life. Yet, through it all, the Lord of Life visits His people and reveals Himself to the world through His Word. He has come that you may have life, and that you may have it to the fullest, for He has come and forgiven you for all of your sins!

The people flocked out to see him. He preached repentance to them. They met him in the river. There they were baptized by him, a baptism of repentance. Sinners flocked to John the Baptizer and heard the Law of God:

Many did bear fruit in keeping with repentance as they were baptized by John. Down into the Jordan they went, one after another, to be washed by him, crucified, as it were, by his preaching of repentance. From John, the greatest of the prophets and that preacher sent by God, they received the forgiveness of their sins. But then he said it:

They all looked up, and that’s when they saw it. “Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him.”

Now, John, recognizing that Jesus didn’t need the baptism he was performing at the Jordan, tried to prevent Him. After all, this is the same Jesus to whom John pointed and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) Such a lamb appointed to be a sin offering would be without spot or blemish. Jesus, being the fulfillment of the sacrificial lambs, would be perfect and blameless; He would be without sin, as would be fitting of a sacrificial Lamb appointed to take away the sin of the world. The weight of the world’s sin would be taken upon this Lamb, and for it He would die. What need did Jesus have with a baptism of repentance? What need did Jesus have for forgiveness? “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

“Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” The voice and the One about which he cried had to do this to fulfill all righteousness. What does this mean?

Well, think of righteousness in terms of the saving deeds that YHWH performs on behalf of His people; Matthew borrowed this kind of terminology from the Old Testament—he was, after all, writing to Jewish readers, you might recall hearing before. All righteousness—the saving deeds of YHWH—was to be fulfilled in the baptism of Jesus by John in the Jordan. A point made throughtout St. Matthew’s Gospel is that Jesus is the fulfillment of all prophecy; therefore, being the fulfillment of all prophecy, Jesus is the fulfillment of all righteousness. The prophet Isaiah wrote,

So, when Jesus was baptized to fulfill all righteousness, John, in that act, continued to preach of Jesus that He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. When Jesus was baptized to fulfill all righteousness, Jesus declared that He is the righteousness of YHWH in whom all the saving deeds of God are to be found.

And, dear hearers, if all of the saving deeds of God are located in Jesus, the Lamb of God, then there are no saving deeds located anywhere else. There is no salvation in the temple sacrifices of the countless lambs. There is no salvation in the works of your hands. Jesus is YHWH, your Salvation—as His name means. As St. Peter preached, and you heard 10 days ago,

Therefore, do not believe that salvation can be found in you. You, dear hearers, are like the crowds that flocked to John in the region of the Jordan. Brood of vipers! There is nothing you can do to flee from the wrath that is to come. Therefore, bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves that you have Abraham as your father, that you belong to a Lutheran church, that you have a baptismal certificate lying in your sock drawer, for I tell you that out of the stones God is able to raise up children of Abraham! The ax is laid to the root of the tree; any tree that does not bear fruit worthy of repentance will be cut down and cast into everlasting fire.

That’s the fate for any who believe that they can save themselves. That’s the fate for any who do not repent of their sins. In this, these deny that they are sinners and deny the salvation offered freely by Jesus the Christ, the Lamb of God, who was baptized by John in the Jordan to fulfill all righteousness for them and for you!

Jesus’ baptism by John in the Jordan shows perfectly how Jesus would save His people from their sins. (cf. Matthew 1:21) Jesus and John showed that in Jesus is all righteousness fulfilled as He performed the saving deeds of YHWH by standing with sinners. In the Jordan, He stood with them as He was baptized as they were, standing in their place! How would Jesus save His people from their sins? By standing in their place under the wrath of God. Ultimately, then, Jesus fulfilled all righteousness as the Lamb of God, dying the sinners’ deaths on the cross outside of Jerusalem. There, with outstretched arms, the Son of God received the wrath of God due the world. Now, those who believe in Him as their salvation, by God-given faith, trust in those arms, as was heard from Isaiah just moments ago.

It is as Dr. Jeffrey Gibbs wrote,

Therefore, it was fitting for Jesus to stand in the Jordan to be baptized by John, for them to fulfill all righteousness, because there He stood in the place of many as on the cross He died in the place of many, shedding His blood as the propitiation for the sins of the world.

Now, placed into those holy wounds, Jesus’ people find shelter from the wrath of God as in them there is complete satisfaction for His wrath. Heaven and earth will pass away, but Jesus, who is your righteousness, and in whom you have been placed, dear Baptized, will be forever.

And this is the fruit that you bear worthy of repentance: that you confess your sins—you same-say what God says about you in His Law. “Yes, I am a transgressor.” And you plead Jesus, your salvation and your righteousness. “But Jesus bore the fullness of Your wrath on my behalf, O God. He stood in my place.” And for His sake, you receive forgiveness, life, and salvation. A blessed exchange indeed: “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) Jesus, the spotless, sinless Lamb of God, He the salvation and righteousness of God, was made to be sin for you, that in Him you would become the righteousness of God!

Jesus’ Baptism prefigures His cross at which was won your forgiveness, life, and salvation, all of which are washed onto you at your baptisms and to which you are constantly pointed as you live in your baptisms: baptism to cross to baptism. You are in Christ and He in you—the righteousness of God fulfilled for you!

That is to say, dear Baptized, in Jesus’ baptism by John in the Jordan, God stood in your place. He thereby sanctified and ordained Jordan and all waters for a saving flood and an abundant washing away of sin. (cf. Martin Luther’s Flood Prayer) In Jesus’ baptism by John in the Jordan, God revealed Jesus to be your righteousness and salvation when the voice that echoed from heaven declared, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Therefore, in your baptisms, you are washed over in the saving flood with righteousness which is yours in Christ, God’s beloved Son. There, at the font, as you were traced with the cross upon forehead and heart to mark you as one redeemed by Christ the crucified, you were declared to be a son of God for the sake of Jesus Christ—in Christ, you are one in whom God is well pleased. Now, you live in your baptisms, a son of God and fellow heir with Jesus Christ of the blessings of life eternal, as by grace through faith you confess your sins and receive absolution, the forgiveness of all of your sins.

I’ll start this sermon by saying that I believe that there is no salvation outside of the Church. Let me explain… St. Mark put it this way: “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:16) Faith is begotten and nurtured in the Church; outside of the Church, faith withers and dies, if it existed at all. Jesus saves—it is all His work; it is only unbelief that condemns. Is it possible for someone outside of the Church to believe? I suppose it could happen if God wills it, but everything I’ve seen and read is that belief outside of the Church is no different than that of the demons who believe and tremble (cf. James 2:19), and that’s not saving faith. Believers, those who have faith and trust in Jesus Christ as their redeemer, are found in the Church; hence, outside of the Church, there is no salvation.

Well, what can be done then about those wise men who visited the young Child Jesus? These men were magi or magicians, astrologers, very likely descendants and disciples of Babylonian wise men—the same Babylonians who brought the Judeans into exile some 600 years before these wise men saw the star rise. Did they believe in God, trust in His promises? If they did, their faith was incomplete—that is to say, their knowledge of their creator was incomplete, likely only having fragments of what Daniel and the three young men (and other Judean wise men) had left behind after their captivity. So, seeing the star, they knew something was up—they knew that a promised King had been born to the descendants of the Judeans.

So, these pagans packed up their belongings for a long trek. They brought along gifts with them to give to this King, tribute which prefigures his Divine Reign and Death—gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

What did they know? What would they find?

After a long journey, they made their way into Jerusalem. There was no fanfare. There was no celebration. In fact, what they found was the ordinary routine of life in the city. It was probably about two years after they first saw the star, so it was conceivable that there would no longer be any celebration of the birth of this Divine King. At the same time, it must have been strange to find absolutely no sign that ANYTHING had ever happened.

That would help to explain what happened when they made their way to the palace of the king. That’s where they found Herod, an Edomite, sitting on the throne. “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” Where would you go to find a newly born prince? You’d go to the palace, but there was no prince there when the wise men arrived. In fact, what they encountered was a worried Herod when they inquired about the King of the Jews, a worry and shock and fear that spread throughout the entire city.

Herod, already plotting to protect his spot on the throne, summoned his own wise men to figure out where the Christ was to be born. They quoted from the Scriptures, parts that the eastern wise men didn’t have, and related that the Christ was to be born in Bethlehem.

There must have been more shock on the part of the wise men. I imagine that they wondered why these men, for whom the King was born, weren’t more excited about this? Why didn’t they want to go along with them to Bethlehem to see this Wonder, whom they called Christ or Messiah? Why were they actually dismayed at the news?

The believers—the Chosen People—feared for their lives as the promise has been fulfilled, even as they called this Promise the Christ. The pagans show more faithfulness and awe at the birth of the Son of God.

I suppose it makes some sense in light of the purpose of St. Matthew’s Gospel: to be a proof to the Jews that Jesus is the fulfillment of the promises made by the prophets. However, doing it like this seems more fitting for St. John’s Gospel, wherein the Jews, and especially the disciples, are rebuked for their faithlessness, and certain Gentiles are praised for their faithfulness.

A text like this might cause you a little trouble, too; maybe not on the level of Herod and those in Jerusalem, but some trouble. I mean, who do you most associate with in this text? You probably want to say that you identify with the wise men, going to worship the King of kings, but you aren’t pagan magicians! So, do you identify with Herod’s wise men? Of course, the words on your lips right now are probably, “I would NEVER do what they did.” If you had received news of the birth of the Christ, you wouldn’t stay behind and meet it with disdain. You probably wouldn’t do what they did; at least, not exactly as they did. You wouldn’t meet the birth of the King without celebration—after all, the Christmas holiday was just celebrated these past 12 days, right? You did celebrate Christmas all 12 days, didn’t you?

Okay, that’s one thing, but the point I’m trying to make is are there not moments in your faith, where you would rather just not…? As in…

• Just not read the Bible…?
• Just not sing the hymns…?
• Just not pray the prayers…?
• Just not go to church (especially for what feels like the 87th time in the last two weeks)…?

And in fact, not “just not do” these things, are there times when you actually dread doing these things.? “Do we have to…?”

Your Lord beckons you to be with Him so that He may give you of Himself for your forgiveness, life, and salvation. And the whole thing is so routine to you that you meet it as blasé. Or so often that you meet it with disdain. “Not today, Lord, I’m just not feeling it.” “Not again, Lord, I was just there two days ago and two days before that!”

But your attendance at church isn’t the only thing in which your faith-life is affected. Your devotional- or prayer-life also aren’t the only facets of your life as the Baptized that fall by the wayside as you await the return of the King of kings. I often want to cringe at the accusations of those on the outside of the Church made against those on the inside: “That’s not very Christian of you.” “It seems to me that the church is more focused on moral judgments and acts than forgiveness and acceptance.” “Jesus wouldn’t stand for that.” Many times, they are wrong, but there’s always that one time when what they say is right, or even just part of what they say is right. How can these pagans know more about my faith than I do? How dare pagans rightly accuse me of not being Christ-like?

It tears right at the heart, doesn’t it? I guess the challenge is not to be too much like Herod’s wise men, to be overcome by so much blasé and malcontent, that you never show up again, that your faith grows cold and dead—that you become indistinguishable from the pagans.

So, what comfort can you who are here take away from this? It was the King of kings that the wise men visited those many years ago. He was born to His own people who rejected Him, but He still came to them. He came for them and for all, that all would be His. And whether you “feel it or not,” Jesus still comes to you, too.

Remember those gifts that the magi brought? Gold—to crown Him as King, for He is the King of kings who rules the universe. Frankincense—to burn in worship of a god, for that Child is God, YHWH in the flesh. Myrrh—to spice a body in preparation for burial, for this Man who is God came to give His life as a ransom for many, believer and pagan alike.

By His life, death, and resurrection, Jesus has come to give you forgiveness, life, and salvation. Into this you have been baptized, and in being baptized, you have put on Christ. Therefore, you are in Christ, a new creation. He is your King of kings and Lord of lords, your Divine Ruler and Judge, your God, your Redeemer and Savior. There is much here over which to rejoice and reason to respond joyfully to the invitation to receive this King of the Jews and Christ, whether that’s once a week, or for what feels like 87 times over two weeks.

This is His Epiphany—His coming to light—He is the world’s Redeemer and Savior, and if He is the world’s Redeemer and Savior, then He is your Redeemer and Savior. He came to His own, and He comes to you, right here and now. He has beckoned you to be with Him, and brought you to Himself. You are here, by His doing, to hear His Word, and by being here and hearing that Word, you are saved, for you are forgiven for all of your sins.

Jesus asked, “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”

Thus says the Lord:

Thus is prescribed the Sin Offering at the Temple, the House of YHWH, the living God. In such manner is a man cleansed of the sin he commits unintentionally against the Lord’s commands, and he is forgiven before the Lord his God.

Thus says the Lord:

Thus is prescribed the Guilt Offering at the Temple, the House of YHWH, the living God. In such manner is a man cleansed of the sin he commits—the guilt removed from him—and he is made right in the sight of man and before the Lord his God.

Thus says the Lord:

Thus is prescribed the Burnt Offering at the Temple, the House of YHWH, the living God. In such manner does a man make propitiation—that is satisfaction—for any ill wrath of God, for it is an aroma pleasing to Him. In such manner does a man also consecrate the whole of him for service and adoration of YHWH, the living God.

Therein is the business of the House of YHWH, the living God: the receiving and making of offerings—sacrifices. There, in the House of YHWH, in the Tabernacle before, did God dwell among His people. There, in the House of YHWH, in the Tabernacle before, did God meet His people and forgive them.

So, there, in the House of YHWH, you hear of the boy Jesus, a mere 12 years old, as His mother and foster father found Him, having traveled a ways from Jerusalem without Him. He was in the company of the people, in their presence, dwelling among them, and instructing them—listening to them, asking them questions, answering their questions—and amazing all in His hearing with His understanding. You might think that He was catechizing them in the ways of the suffering servant from the prophecies of Isaiah. “Today, in your hearing, these words are being fulfilled,” He could have said; He certainly did so having read the Isaiah scroll at the synagogue in Nazareth some 16 or so years later.

Having spent three days in the company of the teachers in the temple courts, His mother and foster father found Him. And, as any worried parent would do—and who wouldn’t worry after having lost a 12 year-old for 3 days—they reacted with a bit of scorn: “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” And then, He said it! “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?” Perhaps, as many know it, “Didn’t you know I had to be about my Father’s business?” Business or house, it doesn’t matter, for this holy Child is about both.

In this holy season of Christmas, the word Emmanuel is bandied about so easily. Still, presented for you today is the 12 year-old Emmanuel—God with us, God in the flesh, God dwelling among us, God pitching His fleshy tent among us, God “tabernacling” among us. There in that 12 year-old Boy is the House of God—that 12 year-old Boy is the House of God. Stop and think about that for a moment: Jesus is Emmanuel—Jesus is the House of God—be He an infant, a 12 year-old boy, or a 30 year-old man.

But, He is also presented to you in the Temple, the House of God built by human minds and hands—first Solomon, then Zerubbabel, then Herod the Great. If He is there about His Father’s business, even if the glory of the LORD had left the Temple centuries earlier, then He is there for the forgiveness of sins, to make propitiation for the people as the priests used to do (even in YHWH’s absence); He is there foreshadowing what He would do some 20-ish years later. At the tender age of 12, He was set about the task of redeeming the world. For it would be in about 20 years years that He would return to Jerusalem to be about His Father’s business of redeeming the world. There, He would be the Sin and Guilt Offering—the lamb without blemish, the spotless Lamb of God—sacrificed on the altar of the cross, shedding His blood to cleanse sinners and make the guilty right with God, and suffering the burning hell of God’s wrath and abandonment as a Burnt Offering for satisfaction—as a propitiation—an aroma pleasing to God.

That’s why He is Emmanuel—God in the flesh among us. That is why He was born and why He lived: in order that He may die for the forgiveness of all of our sins—everyone who has lived, is living, and will ever live. “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.” (Hebrews 2:14-15) At only 12 years old, Jesus gave you a sneak peak into His business.

For a reality check, look back at what YHWH said: “If anyone sins unintentionally in any of the LORD’s commandments…If anyone of the common people sins unintentionally in doing any one of the things that by the LORD’s commandments ought not to be done…he shall bear his iniquity.” Whether you mean to or not, you sin—“All have sinned,” says St. Paul—you do, the man in the pulpit does, the person sitting next to you does. And, according to the Law of God, whether you mean to or not, you are guilty of it. Intention means nothing when it comes to committing a sin—commit a sin, intentionally or not, and you are guilty. So, this is the fact you must face: you are guilty of sinning, and a Sin or Guilt Offering is then required…maybe even a Burnt Offering.

Therefore, God in His everlasting mercy, “became flesh and dwelt among us.” (cf. John 1:14) The sacrifices of the Sin Offering, Guilt Offering, and Burnt Offering could not appease God forever. These things were but a shadow, St. Paul wrote (cf. Colossians 2:16-17; Hebrews 8:3-5), and the reality or fullness (that is, the fulfillment) is found in Christ—in Emmanuel. The author of the Hebrews confirms this when He writes, “He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself,” (Hebrews 7:27) and…

To put it succinctly, it can be said as he wrote in another part of the letter: “Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” (Hebrews 2:17)

By being about His Father’s business, even at 12 years of age, He was about the business of the forgiveness of sins—the forgiveness of your sins, of the sins of the man in the pulpit, of the sins of the person next to you. “Christ is the propitiation for our sins,” wrote St. John. (cf. 1 John 2:2) He has taken your sin and guilt upon Himself, as it was transferred to the sacrificial animals by the laying on of hands, and died with it on the altar of the cross, removing it from you as far as the east is from the west. You are at peace with God—Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace!

But, there was one more animal sacrifice made at the Temple.

Thus says the Lord:

Thus is prescribed the Peace Offering at the Temple, the House of YHWH, the living God. In such manner does a man thank and praise God for being at peace with him and for being in fellowship with him.

While the bloody sacrifices are over, it is still well and good to thank and praise God for the peace that you have with Him in His Son, Emmanuel. This you do when you receive His good and perfect gifts and He comes down to you to serve you with forgiveness, life, and salvation, when you pray, praise, and give thanks in words and songs, and when you give back to God that which He has given you to support this body and life—your time, talents, and treasures. You do all these things joyfully rejoicing, because Emmanuel has come, removing your sin and guilt. You can rejoice because you are forgiven for all of your sins!

Dear Redeemed of God, God has a name! And it is that name by which you are saved.

Now, God had revealed His name once before. While the people of Israel were still in bondage in Egypt, it was to Moses that God appeared in a burning bush, telling him that he was going to free his people from Egypt. Moses complained, “The people aren’t going to believe me if I tell them that ‘the God of your Fathers’ has sent me to you. Whom shall I say sent me?” God replied, “Ehiya esher ehiya.” From that is derived God’s proper name used but seldom translated in the Old Testament: Yahweh—the Existing One, the One Who is.

People throughout the ages were given names that included this proper name of God: Elijah, meaning my God is Yahweh; Abijah, meaning my father is Yahweh; Jonathan, meaning the gift of Yahweh; Jeremiah, meaning whom Yahweh has appointed; Hezekiah, meaning the might of Yahweh; Obadiah, meaning servant of Yahweh; Zechariah, meaning Yahweh remembers; Zephaniah, meaning hidden by Yahweh. The funny thing is that, outside of an occasional sermon or Bible study, hardly anyone ever calls on God by this name, except in the names to which it is attached, especially this one: Joshua.

Joshua, or Y’shua in Hebrew, meaning Yahweh is salvation—Iesos in Greek, translated from Greek into many languages as Jesus or something similar. Yahweh saves, Yahweh is Savior!

You’ve heard over the last month that God-in-the-flesh would receive this name. Gabriel tells Mary that she will name her Son Jesus. (cf. Luke 1:30-31) An angel tells Joseph in a dream that he will name the Son of God Jesus. (cf. Matthew 1:20-21) And both times, the angel tells their hearer that He will save His people from their sins. This isn’t just a nod to a future event, but an acknowledgment that Jesus will be the one—the only one—to do it.

This means that you do not save yourself. In Jesus, God saves, God is Savior. No one else is Savior, a fact that St. Peter made clear in one of his sermons:

There is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved, and there is only one Jesus who will do it—the one who is the Son of God and Son of Man. He will save His people from their sins, because no one else will, because no one else is able to. To think otherwise is a sin.

That’s the back half of the message from the angel. “…from their sins.” This Jesus, eight days old in the text, receives His name, for He will save His people from their sins. Jesus is Savior, but Savior from what? From His people’s sins. No work of mere man—no work of your own—is sufficient for your salvation. Only the work of the God-man, Jesus Christ, is fully sufficient.

The problem is that people seldom realize it. Unless there is some major catastrophe, people tend to think that they are just alright. Compounding this is the thought that God could never reject that which He has created, so there’s nothing to fear coming from Him, if He even exists. People tend to think that if they make a mistake (their “milder” word for sin) that there is something they can do to make up for it. In short, if you think that you can work off you sin, that God receives you apart from salvation, or that you’re too good for salvation, then you reject Jesus, the Son of God—you reject God—and that is a sin.

And as much as you might like to believe that because you know differently you don’t fall into these errors, I’d say it’s a much more difficult thing for you to avoid them. Yes, you believe in Jesus Christ, you trust in the salvation that He is, that He brought, that He wrought, but for you, the devil, the world, and your own sinful flesh are at work harder in order to sway you from the Truth. And the work of this unholy triumvirate is more than you can stand against on your own. So, you have moments when you think you’re alright, or at least better off than the next person because God loves you more for some reason. You have moments when you think that your faith in Christ is well enough, that you can do whatever you like while the sinner outside of the Church still has to pay for his sins. You have moments when you think that God has punished you for a particular sin, so you have to do something to amend for your error. These, too, dear hearers, are all a rejection of Jesus—they are all sin.

As circular as it may sound, it is because of this that Jesus was conceived and became flesh, that Jesus was born and came to man, that Jesus was given the name Jesus. Ever since the fall, when Adam and Eve took of the forbidden fruit and, against the command of God, ate it, their descendants have been transgressing the commands of God and refusing His grace.

Still, Jesus comes, and still, Jesus saves! God is in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them. (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:19) So, while God was the lawgiver through Moses, through Himself in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ, He is the law-fulfiller. He has fulfilled the law for you, dear hearers. Jesus Christ is your Savior, whether you think Him to be or not. He has fulfilled the law for you by keeping every little precept in your place and also by being the ransom for your sins—the recompense to the Father in your place for your sins. He has reconciled you to Himself, imputing the sins against Himself.

And in today’s text, you see Him keeping the law as He subjects Himself to the covenant of circumcision. You may recall from Christmas Day how it was mentioned that Jesus shared a biology like yours along every stage of life, from conception to birth, to childhood, to adulthood, to death. Included in this is the time when He was subjected to the law on His eighth day, and first shed His blood under the circumcision knife. He is a child of the covenant for you, and so in Him you are a child of the covenant, whether “Jew [or] Greek,...slave [or] free,...male [or] female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:28-29) And all of this is without any merit or worthiness in you—gratis, by grace, by God’s grace to you in Christ.

“And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.” All of this, for you, dear hearers. Into this—into Him—you are baptized. You are marked by Him, no longer in the circumcision of the flesh, but by His name on your forehead (cf. Revelation 14:1), placed there as you were washed in the water and the Word. There, at the font, you were traced with the cross upon forehead—where His name is written—and breast—the circumcision of the heart, which is the cutting away at the old flesh of Adam (cf. Romans 2:28-29)—marking you as one redeemed by Christ the circumcised—by Christ the crucified. You have put on Christ and in Him you are a new creation.

Jesus has come, He has shed His blood for you on the eighth day, and also later in life as He hung, bleeding and dying, on the cross outside of Jerusalem. There, Yahweh your Salvation died as your propitiation—as your sacrifice for sin, having suffered the full wrath for your sin and the sins of the world—to rise again on the third day from the grave. Jesus has saved His people from their sins—He has saved you from your sins, you are forgiven for all of your sins.

Eleven days ago, you sang this wonderful hymn about the heralding angels’ message to the shepherds in the field as Jesus was born:

Having closed the hymnal on that stanza, the Church now comes to the Fourth Day of Christmas, often observed as the feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs. As it turns out, the Gospel appointed for Holy Innocents is the same as the one appointed for the First Sunday after Christmas in Year A. In that text, you heard:

The Prince of Peace is “born that man no more may die,” and today is “celebrated” the deaths of the male children in Bethlehem two-years old and younger. Jesus’ birth and the celebration thereof is marked by slaughter, there is blood on His birth.

It should come as no surprise. Where Jesus is, there sinful man knows nothing but hate. Jesus comes that you may not die, and your Old Man wants to off Him, too, because He and the Life He comes to give are a threat to your way of life. So, there’s no use in thinking of yourself better or holier or more pious than Herod because you didn’t kill those innocents in Bethlehem, because you think you would welcome such a one as Jesus the infant where Herod did not. Would it be any different with adult Jesus? Maybe…maybe not.

And then, to make matters worse, God sent His Son and family into Egypt to escape the tyrant’s rage. Mary, Joseph, and the Christ-child uprooted from their home in Bethlehem, having just received the gold, frankincense, and myrrh from the sages, and high-tailed it off to the land of slavery. “Out of Egypt I called my Son,” was of little comfort for weeping Rachel who refused to be comforted because her son is no more. “God’s Son gets to live, but mine is killed in His stead. It just doesn’t seem fair; it isn’t right.” It’s little consolation, but it wasn’t Jesus’ time yet, even though He had just received burial spices from those sages.

Those spices, the myrrh and its “bitter perfume,” that “Breathes a life of gathering gloom; Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying, Sealed in the stone cold tomb,” foreshadow the fact that He did come to die. So does another stanza from another Christmas hymn:

First, however, He had to fulfill the Word that was written. “Out of Egypt I called My Son.” Jesus had to be Israel, and so the eternal Son of God retraced the steps of His ancestor into slavery in Egypt and back out with Moses. He was the new Israel, the new Moses, the new Adam, come to do what each of them—what each of you—would not and could not do: be the perfect man in order to be the perfect sacrifice.

And as God had done centuries before, Jesus made His way out of Egypt and eventually to Jerusalem. Pillar of cloud, pillar of fire, cover of the Ark, tent in Shiloh, temple in Jerusalem, children of Israel—Jesus is all of them. He is all of you, every last bit—flesh and blood, skin and bones, sin and disease (though perfect and sinless)—borne to the altar of the cross outside of Jerusalem. There, this sacrificial Lamb shed His blood as your propitiation, and He shared in the suffering of those boys of Bethlehem and Rachel and all of Israel and all of you—He shared in suffering in a way that you cannot comprehend, for He bore it all even as He suffered under the full wrath of God for your sins and the sins of all of the world—for those boys, for Rachel, for Herod, for all of Israel, for all of you.

It might come as a shock to think that perhaps only a couple or three dozen boys were slaughtered that day in Bethlehem, if that. The City of David is a small town, the least of all the cities of Judah (cf. Micah 5:2), so it would follow that there couldn’t have been very many boys two and under in the town. It was probably a quick and simple thing for Herod’s men to sweep through the town and kill those boys, and hardly newsworthy in the list of Herod’s atrocities—killing perceived political rivals was nothing for him. Does that make Herod’s slaughter seem “no so bad after all?” As if the massacre of a few innocents is somehow better than the massacre of many.

• Well then, how about Stalin’s massacre of the Ukrainians in the 1930s?
• What about Hitler’s extermination of the Jews, Gypsies, and other “undesirables” in the 1940s?
• There’s also the brutality shown the Cambodians by the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s.
• And these all pale in comparison, however, to the massacre that has been happening to children still in the womb, that a few are seeking to “enshrine” as a right in state constitutions (and more), including this one!

The number of innocents slaughtered for the sake of convenience—like those of Bethlehem—is staggering when added up over the decades of legalized abortion. What a horrific travesty! Dear God, what weeping of those who regret and/or mourn over having killed their child in utero! Does Rachel weep for these? Do you, dear hearers?

Yet even for these Jesus was conceived, born, and died. Dr. David P. Scaer wrote rather poetically,

These were conceived in sin, but never had a chance to be born to a life of sin—innocent in a way you who have been born and live or those who have died since birth will never know. They were once alive, like all of you, but never born. They were never born to be washed in the waters of Holy Baptism, receiving instead a baptism of salt and a deadly issue from their mothers’ wombs. Jesus was alive from the moment “the Holy Spirit brought that infinitely small cell into existence” in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and so in His life, their lives and deaths are assumed as much as yours are and those of others who knew the grace and love of being born into this fallen world.

For these innocents, for the innocents of Bethlehem, for weeping Rachel, for Herod, for Adam, for all of Israel, for all of you Jesus was conceived—assuming flesh and blood, skin and bones like all of them, like all of you—was born, and died. Jesus’ blood, His death, covers a multitude of sins—the sins of the world—including the innocents of these days—for He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. (cf. John 1:29)

These three days after Christmas Day are a reminder that this season is not so much about the fluff and sentimentality seen as the world fawns over the birth of an infant. The festival days of St. Stephen, St. John, and today, Holy Innocents, all come on the heels of the Nativity of Jesus, telling you that death follows following the One who was born that man no more may die. Stephen was stoned to death for preaching Jesus, a martyr in will and deed. (cf. Acts 6:8—7:50) There were attempts to take John’s life, but he lived and was exiled to the island of Patmos, a martyr in will but not deed. (cf. Revelation 1:9) Today is the feast day of these boys of Bethlehem who happened to have been born at about the same time as Jesus, martyrs in deed but not will. No, Jesus wasn’t born to be fawned over, but to bring death to sin and immortality and Life to light.

Still, as all the evil and perverse world cheers as the “right” to murder an innocent and unwanted life is celebrated, so all of the fallen world cheered in victory as the Son of God died, finally. Mary weeps, the Blessed Mother of God, because she cannot be comforted while she is given to John and John to her (cf. John 19:26), but she will be consoled a few days later. Her Son died for her, too, as much as Rachel’s sons died because of Him some decades before. But He rose again from the grave for her, as for them, as for Rachel, as for all of Israel, as for all of the unborn innocents, as for all of you.

Death could not contain the Author of Life, and so for all of Adam’s descendants the Son of God burst forth from the fetters of the grave. In Christ, the slave-master Death is a conquered enemy to you. For, here is the consolation of the world: Jesus exchanges your Death for Life, and seals it to you, giving you the victory over Death as He rises from the dead. In His death on the cross in your place, Jesus conquers this enemy and gives you the victory in this ages-long war by His resurrection from the dead. Dr. Martin Luther called this the blessed exchange, so fulfilling the Word which Jesus spoke:

• “Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.” (Matthew 24:34-35)
• “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.” (John 11:25-26)

Death constantly surrounds the Prince of Peace who was “born that man no more may die.” But death is swallowed up in His conception, birth, life, and death. Dear Baptized, into His conception, birth, life, death, and resurrection you have been baptized—you are swallowed up in His flesh, even as He continues to bless you with His flesh and blood. In Holy Baptism, that old Adamic flesh is drowned and dies—daily, even, by contrition and repentance—and a New Man emerges that lives before God in righteousness and purity forever. The flesh of the New Man—your new flesh, dear Baptized—is that which was conceived and born of the Virgin Mary, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” (Galatians 3:27)

Apart from Jesus Christ, there is no life. You ought to pray and hope for the grace and mercy of God on those who were never given the chance to believe in Him, or to confess a faith in Him, the holy innocents of this time, as it were, whose very lives and death were assumed into the flesh of Jesus as much as yours were. But, even here, the Word of God consoles you, as it did for David who mourned the death of His unnamed son before he could be circumcised. (cf. 2 Samuel 12:22-23)

As for you, however, you are baptized, you confess Jesus Christ and Him crucified, and you are here to receive Jesus in faith, so you are in Christ, and you have life. Jesus has come that you may have life, and have it more abundantly (cf. John 10:10); born that you no more may die. Therefore, as Mary conceived the Son of God by the special action of the Holy Spirit, so in you is conceived by the special action of the Holy Spirit the faith to believe in the Son of God, your Savior, as water and the Word was applied to you, and you were born again of water and the Spirit. (cf. John 3:3, 5) You have faith to believe in Jesus, and so, you shall never die, but have life more abundant in eternity. Therefore, should you face death in this fallen world, you shall yet live forever, because you are forgiven for all of your sins.

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us...”

It’s so easy this time of year to get caught up in the Christmas story as told by St. Luke, even if, because of how things are done here, you only hear it at the Lessons and Carols service or in the candlelight portion of last night’s service. Nevertheless, it is a prominent thought, even here, at this time of year. Pregnant Mary, no room in the inn, finding room in a stable, giving birth, manger, swaddling cloths, angels singing, shepherds wondering. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.” (Luke 2:14) These are all great things, things to marvel over, things to rejoice about. “For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11)

But John gives a different perspective. He fills in the blanks that, as you read Luke, you might not realize are there. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The Word of God is God; practically inexplicable and wholly incomprehensible beyond what John says. There is another person to this Godhead, the Word, and He is God. He was there in the beginning; of course He was, since He is God.

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…” He who exists outside of time, beyond time, beyond your comprehension became flesh. “The Word dwelt among us.” So, let’s look at those two parts individually.

The Word became flesh—mystery upon mystery. If you came to the first mid-week Advent service here, you would have beheld this mystery with Mary conceiving the Word of God as the Holy Spirit came upon her and the power of the Most High overshadowed her. (cf. Luke 1:35) She would give birth to the Son of God and give Him the name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.

But there in her womb, the Word became flesh as egg was miraculously fertilized, and a zygote was formed. No longer is the Word something or someone which comes forth only from the mouth of the Father, who occasionally manifested Himself as “the angel of the LORD,” but He came forth from the womb of the Blessed Virgin with flesh and blood. The Creator is wrapped up in the things of creation; a manger and swaddling cloths, yes, but more than that, in flesh and blood! He through whom the cosmos was created, by whom all creation was called into being, in whom you live and move and have your being (cf. Acts 17:28), lives and moves and has His being in the same fashion—the same flesh and blood—as the pinnacle of His creation. That would be you, dear hearers.

The Word of God became flesh. He was conceived, developed, and born. He is fully man while losing nothing of His divinity. And He lived. And He died. And He was buried. Marvel at this mystery, dear hearers: God becomes one of you! In Jesus, God becomes one with you! The Word became flesh—flesh like yours, bone like yours, blood like yours, cells like yours, brain like yours…in a manner of speaking, a biology like yours. Jesus is Man; “true Man, yet very God.”

And the Word of God shared a biology like yours along every stage of life, like you. He was conceived and born. He grew and learned. He acquired a trade, a job, a vocation. And He died. In every stage, Jesus was there, like you are or will be, from conception to death. He even met a stage that, because He did, you too will see: He rose again from the dead. He did it all perfectly, and credits every moment to you—all of it for you!

Proclus of Constantinople wrote,

You can think of it this way: By clothing Himself in human flesh and blood, Christ appropriated the life of humanity. Now, through baptism, there is a ritual exchange of garments as Christians are clothed with Christ. (cf. Galatians 3:27) Dear Baptized, you are saved for in baptism you have put on Christ, the Word who became flesh.

“…and dwelt among us.” On the surface, as you hear those words, you hear that the Word lived among people. And that is true. He assumed your flesh and blood and lived like a man among man. He did that as grew before His parents, gaining wisdom and stature (cf. Luke 2:52), assumed a trade (likely that of His guardian, Joseph, a carpenter, made friends and enemies, ate and drank…lived as a man “among us.”

But there is more to the words that John used. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us…” As you might recall from last night’s sermons, God dwelt among His people once before. In the time of the Exodus, God led His people out of Egypt as a pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night. God instructed Moses to build a tent, fill it with holy articles, not the least of which was the Ark of the Covenant, and into this tent would the pillar of cloud descend, and there God would dwell among His people. (cf. Exodus 29:43-46) This tent would eventually be set up in Shiloh, then a new structure built in Jerusalem to replace the tabernacle, and in these buildings would God dwell among His people, seated on the throne that was the Ark of the Covenant.

And it is to this history that John calls you when he wrote, “[D]welt among us.” The word John used for dwelt is the same word for tent, for pitching a tent. The Word became flesh and tented among us, pitched His tent among us, “tabernacled” among us. This time, however, it is different. There is no pillar of cloud or fire. There is no unseen presence. This tabernacle is filled with flesh and blood, and that is the flesh and blood of God. It is your flesh and blood! “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us…”

And who is humanity, that the Word should become flesh and “dwell among us?” None other than His own. Just as the tabernacle was erected among His people, so now the Word of God is flesh and dwelling among His people. “He came to His own,” St. John wrote. So, yet again, marvel at this mystery. God is Man—your Man!

What does that mean? It means that in becoming flesh, your God took upon Himself and into Himself everything of you that is wounded and sick, fallen and sinful, vile and pungent, dead and dying, and in return gave Himself to you. He was given the name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. He will save His people from their sins by being flesh and blood like them and taking all that is fallen and cursed of that flesh into His own and given Life in return. “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.”

This is what His conception and life were all about. Every moment of the life of Jesus in the flesh was to be your Savior. He bled, He was baptized, He cured, He gave sight and hearing, He raised the dead; and all of it for you, to be your Savior, in the flesh. And then, as the pinnacle of His Saving work, He took all that was fallen and cursed in your flesh into His own and to the cross, there to shed that blood and give that flesh over to death for your fallenness and cursedness—for your sin.

He died and was buried, things that flesh and blood do. And He was raised from the dead, winning for you life eternal, like His—in the flesh!

What’s more, the Word is still flesh, and still dwells among you, though hidden. He doesn’t just appear out of everywhere, like He did in that upper room to the disciples behind locked doors following His resurrection. (cf. John 20:19ff) Still, He gives of Himself, flesh and blood, for you, right here, and right now. That is to say, you receive Him in Word and Sacrament. You’ll see Him and receive Him most manifestly as He gives you that flesh and blood like yours hidden in simple bread and wine. He comes, not frighteningly as cloud and fire, but graciously as bread and wine, to give you forgiveness, life and salvation. He comes in Word and Sacrament to lift you up out of the vileness of your fallen life and give you His own exalted life.

And the day will come when that flesh and blood returns on the clouds in glory. A sight to behold and for which to rejoice for those who are in Christ. A sight to behold and fear for those who have rejected Him. While He remains flesh and blood, hidden from sight, the day will come when He will make Himself known to all, show Himself and those glorious scars of your redemption to all, to claim His bride as His own, to continue to theme from last night’s sermon, and bring Her—bring you—into the wedding hall of eternity, exalting you forever as a member of His Bride, the Church Triumphant.

St. John Chrysostom said, “Let us learn to know which nature it is to which the Father said, ‘Share My seat.’ It is that nature to which it has been said, ‘Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.’” The Word of God became flesh and blood—was born and named Jesus—and in so doing, your flesh and blood is exalted in Him. In Him, you are made children of God, a right conferred to you by way of being in Christ and Christ being in you. The fall of Adam diminished you, brought you low; the Word becoming flesh elevates you—because the Word became flesh for you. God is Man, your Man. And if He is your Man, then you are forgiven for all of your sins.

I suppose you had to have been there, but if you were, that would have been noteworthy, too.

There was no temple; in fact, there were no structures at all. There were a bunch of plants and animals. It was paradise.

There were two trees of note. Beyond that, there was a man and his wife. And there was God.

Like I said, I suppose you had to have been there, but can you imagine what it must have been like? You could walk around without shame in a manner that would be shameful today. You would have lived in complete harmony with everyone there, all the animals—all of them, whether they are today plant eaters, meat eaters, or blood suckers—and even the environment. Like I said, it was perfect: the temperatures were bearable night and day in that manner that would today be considered shameful, and the weather was amazing all the time. Nothing was there to harm you, but all of it was perfectly beautiful symbiosis.

And, like I said, God was there. This is a part that may be a little more difficult to imagine. Moses declared, “[T]hey heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day…” (Genesis 3:8) There is every indication that that was a regular occurrence, but it is never described. Scripture confesses that God is spirit (cf. John 4:24), so what does it mean, what did it look like, when that spirit walked in the garden, making sound indicative of that activity? Nevertheless, God was often with the man and his wife in Paradise. The fallen imagination of man can hardly comprehend the reality of God walking with the man and his wife in Paradise.

I once read that St. Ambrose taught that man was created for no greater purpose than companionship with God. The creation of woman bears that out, as He would not have man be alone as He was once “alone” before creating man, and there was nothing among the animals of creation that could do for the man what the man was doing for God. Companionship and relationship are at the heart of creation, which is why marriage, which was created in the beginning (cf. Genesis 2:24), and which some consider a sacrament, is still practiced and celebrated today. Companionship and relationship are necessarily elements for the foundation of sound civilization. It is this companionship and relationship that God created for Himself with man, and with mankind. So much so, that He would leave His heavenly throne regularly to walk with the man and his wife in the Garden. God is love, St. John wrote (cf. 1 John 4:8), and He expressed that love in the creation of man, the woman, and His regular walks with them.

Now, remember I mentioned those two noteworthy trees. Both were planted in the Garden for God to show His love for man and for man to prove His love for God. The tree of life was planted so that the man may eat of it and continue to live in the presence and companionship with God. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was planted so that man could obey God’s command not to eat of it, and continue to live in the presence and companionship with God—“[F]or in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:17b)

And with that, the breakup began.

God was on one of His walks in Paradise and knew that the man and his wife had done what He commanded them not to do. So began the great divorce. But God is still love and always remains so. Out of love for His fallen creation, He made man a promise, speaking to that crafty serpent: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15)

A few millennia later, a certain man had a dream, and in this vision, an angel of the Lord told him, “[D]o not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” Then, the Word of God declares to you, “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel’ (which means, God with us).” Immanuel…God with us.

Out of love for His fallen creation, God sought to restore the relationship and companionship that He once had with the man, Adam, and his wife in Paradise. He started that restoration with Moses, first in a bush that burned but that was not consumed (Exodus 3:1ff), then in pillars of cloud and fire (Exodus 13:17ff), then in a tent of meeting. (Exodus 33:7-11) That tent would be replaced with the tabernacle, as He instructed Moses (Exodus 25-31); in the most holy place of that tabernacle would be placed the Ark of the Covenant, covered by the “mercy seat,” God’s throne on earth. Eventually, the tabernacle would be replaced by a more solid structure in Jerusalem: the temple. (1 Kings 6) In all of these means, God was present, though hidden, with His people. He still desired that companionship and relationship with His creation, though it could not be fully realized because of creation’s fallen nature.

And it would be that fallen nature which would render all of these means impermanent. Because of the idolatry of His chosen people—whoring themselves out to other gods though God Himself was as a husband to them (cf. Jeremiah 31:32)—His presence left the temple, and it was destroyed. (Ezekiel 10-11; 2 Kings 25:8-10) Though it would be rebuilt twice, the Ark of the Covenant had been lost forever, God’s throne on earth permanently removed.

But remember God’s promise to Adam’s wife, spoken to that crafty serpent. Remember the dream that Joseph had. God would still place Himself among His people, and do so in order to restore Paradise. As John wrote, and you’ll hear a couple of times over these days, “[T]he Word became flesh and dwelt among us…” (John 1:14) John wouldn’t just leave you without imagination here, either, referencing the means that God had used in the past to be present among His people, for you could also translate what he wrote there, based on the word he used, as, “God became flesh and pitched His tent or tabernacled among us.” The body of Jesus is the new tent of meeting, the new tabernacle, the new presence of God among His people, the fabric of the tent having been replace with the fabric of flesh taken in the womb of Mary.

Even more, God’s hidden presence in the flesh of Jesus was not merely to be present among His people. He wasn’t dwelling among man as man simply to be with them. His love—His being love—compelled Him to restore the relationship and companionship that He had with Adam and his wife, but to do so for all mankind, especially for those who believe. It’s written right there in the declaration made to the serpent in Eden. It’s spoken right there in the vision given to Joseph in His dream. “[H]e shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel.” “[Y]ou shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

I’ve been using the words companionship and relationship throughout this sermon. So, let me complete and fulfill those words in the way that Christ is described as the Bridegroom and the Church His Bride (and you members of it).

St. Paul wrote, “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” Paul took the institution of marriage from Genesis 2 and said that while it applies to husbands and wives—you husbands and you wives—it is actually a profound mystery referring to Christ and the Church: “’Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.” (Ephesians 5:25-32)

St. John described a feast in eternity as the wedding feast of the Lamb in His Kingdom which has no end. A great multitude cried out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure…” (Revelation 19:6-7) The angel later told John, who was seeing this in a vision, “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” (Revelation 19:9) And there are yet a few more times where St. John referred to the Church as the Bride of the Lamb. (Revelation 21:2, 9; 22:17)

Jesus is the Bridegroom, who saves His Bride—saving His people from their sins—but fulfilling His husbandly duties. As St. Paul wrote, He loved the Church and gave Himself up for her. I like to point out that the wedding happened on a Friday, a very Good Friday. On a hill outside of Jerusalem, Christ gave Himself up for His church by dying on the cross—a feat He could only do, being God, by becoming man, by the Word becoming flesh. There, on Golgotha, He left His Father—“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34)—and His mother—“Woman, behold your son…Behold, your mother!” (John 19:26-27)—and held fast to His wife, the Church, dying for Her, cleansing Her, presenting Her to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, holy and without blemish. By the shedding of His blood, He has adorned her in pure beauty, the robes of His own righteousness, washed in His blood, even as Her members—you, dear baptized—have been washed of water with the Word. There, dear friends, is the profound mystery.

The Word became flesh and entered a one-flesh union with His Bride, the Church. You, dear Baptized, are the result of that one-flesh union: “[C]hildren of God, who were born, not of blood nor the will of the flesh nor the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12-13) Is it any wonder that, historically, the Church has been referred to as Holy Mother by Her children, the members of the Bride of Christ, made so by the restoration won for them on the cross of Calvary and given to them in that sacred flood in the Church, Holy Baptism? You can think of the font as the womb from which you sprang forth into this life in Christ! After all, Jesus spoke to Nicodemus about Baptism as being born again of water and the Spirit. (cf. John 3:3-7)

God created man and woman for companionship with Him. Man breaks up with God. God expels man from Paradise—Paradise lost. God still loves man. God remains present with man. God becomes man. God gives his life for man. Those who have been washed of water with the Word, being made a part of the Bride of Christ, have a restored relationship with God, one that will last to eternity in the new heavens and the new earth—Paradise restored.

Because God became flesh and dwelt among us, because Jesus is Immanuel and He has given Himself over to death for you and is risen again, you have been clothed in His righteousness and will live with Him forever, having a restored companionship and relationship with your Creator because He is also your Redeemer and Savior. You are blessed to be invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb in His Kingdom which has no end, because you are forgiven for all of your sins. Listen to the faithfulness of the Bridegroom, the Word made Flesh, Immanuel: “[B]ehold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20b)

There he was in the wilderness, baptizing any and all who came to him with a baptism of repentance. This was his message, still proclaimed to this day by faithful preachers the world over: ”Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3:2) He was, after all, the voice in the wilderness preparing the way of the LORD, as prophesied by Isaiah. (cf. Isaiah 40:3) This was the preparation that was needed: repentance, a making of room in the heart for the forgiveness that the LORD would bring.

Repentance is described as a turning away; some describe it as “doing a 180,” and while that works to describe the turning away from sin, repentance isn’t that simple. Repentance is also seeing the sin with which you struggle, the sins that you commit, acknowledging that there is absolutely no hope in yourself to free yourself from this bondage, thereby recognizing your need for a Savior. A response of this repentance? It is as you heard two weeks ago: “Hosanna,” that is, “Lord, save now!”

This doesn’t come to you of your own will. Inasmuch as you are unable to free yourself from the bondage to sin, you cannot repent of it on your own. That’s why it must be preached into you, for in the proclamation of the Word of God, you are brought to faith, a faith that brings to you repentance—to all of that stuff I just mentioned.

Therefore the voice cried out, “Repent.” That voice echoes from chancels and pulpits to this day: “Repent” And with that proclamation is given the faith to repent. Furthermore, it was all done in preparation for the coming of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus was coming, so the people needed to repent. That also happens to be the reason the message continues to this day. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. For one thing, Jesus is present in Word and Sacrament to bring His kingdom to you. For another thing, His return to judge the living and the dead is closer now than it ever has been; the question of when will not be answered apart from, “When the Father wills it.”

As for this voice, John the Baptist, and the question of when, Jesus did show up. John had the privilege that all the prophets before Him could only dream of—to point to the One and proclaim of Him that He is the Kingdom of Heaven come down. And point this voice did: “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) This privilege is the reason why, according to Dr. Martin Luther, Jesus declared of him that he is greater and worthy of more esteem than any other prophet.

I suppose it could be said that the privilege that John had is extended to preachers today, in a sense. They can point to the font and to the lectern and declare that Jesus is there, with the water and in the Word proclaimed. Even more-so, they can point to the altar and say that Jesus’ very body is given to you as bread and His very blood as wine. Still, John had the greater privilege, to point to the Man Himself and say there is the Son of God…the Lamb of God. No one will be able to do that until He comes again, but then, by way of the signs and trumpets and clouds and angels, no would be able to mistake Jesus for an ordinary man—all will know who He is and why He is coming; that being the case, no one will need to point and proclaim as John had.

But this greatest of men born of women met hardship as all who proclaim and believe in Jesus do. For John, it was a prison stint for doing what God had sent Him to do; in point of fact, Herod the tetrarch had him bound and thrown into prison because John had told him that it was not lawful to have his brother’s wife. (cf. Matthew 14:3-4) It was from this prison that John sent word to Jesus: “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” You see, John had heard in prison about the things that Jesus had been doing.

I will quickly cover the debate: was John asking for himself or for his disciples? I’ve spent a great length of time on this in the past. So, let me just say, John was still fully human and the circumstances of life can often cause doubt—being thrown in prison for doing what the forerunner of the Christ was supposed to do can be one of those doubt-causing circumstances. So, work off the assumption here that John doubted, as did some if not all of his disciples, I suppose. He did ask, “…shall we look for another?” He did not ask, “…shall these look for another?”

So, you can forgive John for asking such a question, given the hardship he was going through. I mean, Jesus did; it was after Jesus heard the question that He said of John that he was the greatest of those born of women. So, if Jesus forgave John, you can, too. After all, as is the case with all preaching, the first audience of every proclamation of the Word of God is the one preaching it. John needed to hear the message to repent as much as all the rest of those who heard him.

That said, this moment of weakness of faith and Jesus’ response to it should be of great comfort to you. If John, being in prison, can begin to doubt the authenticity of who Jesus is and be restored by being pointed back to the Scriptures, so can you. Such hardships are not solely reserved for those in the Office of the Holy Ministry, in any of it’s facets, but for all who bear the name Christ on their foreheads and breasts. Jesus promised that hardships would come. So, you know it’s going to happen; nevertheless, this weak and corrupt flesh will not bear such hardships, no matter how insignificant they may seem (to you or to others), and will cast doubt on the authenticity of Jesus’ identity. So, in those times, you, too, will ask, “Is Jesus the one?”

Now, John knew of the deeds of Christ. And it was to these, in particular, that Jesus referred, telling John’s disciples, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.” He was telling John and his disciples—“Compare what I am doing with what was written about Me by those who came before you. Am I not doing everything prophesied of the Messiah?” It’s not unlike Jesus’ interaction with Thomas the week after the resurrection. “Do not disbelieve, but believe.” I like to believe that John responded in similar fashion to Thomas, and perhaps many, if not all, of his disciples did, too: “My Lord and my God.” (John 20:26-28)

The thing is, whether John doubted or his disciples did is immaterial. All of them suffered with the same fallen and corrupt flesh that you do, which seeks to drive you to doubt and despair, which seek to have you breach God’s commandments, which seeks to convince that that when God gave the Law, He didn’t really mean it. This is the violence that the kingdom of heaven suffers now that the Son of God is in the flesh: there’s the question, “Is Jesus really the One?’ and the outright denial, “There’s no way that Jesus can be the One.” Everyone deals with it, believer or not, and for it the kingdom of g\heaven suffers violence. So, in this regard, John and his disciples were no better off than you are, and you no worse off than they were. John needed to hear the message to repent. His disciples needed to hear the message to repent. I need to hear the message to repent. You need to hear the message to repent.

And you all need to see and hear what else John proclaimed: “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

Jesus pointed John and his disciples to what He had done compared to the prophecies of the Messiah. That same thing can be and is done today. Do you doubt who Jesus says He is? Look at what was prophesied of Him and look at what He has done. Doubt that He has really done it? Well, there are thousands of eye witnesses of His resurrection, having also seen Him die on the cross. These all bear witness that Jesus is the Man, the Son of God, who died and rose again and lives forevermore. Jesus is who He says He is, and He declares to you that He is your Savior!

The kingdom of heaven is at hand. It has come and He has done exactly what He said He would do. Christ has died; Christ is risen; Christ will come again. Yes, He will come again. Therefore, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” He will come on the clouds of judgment with the call of the trumpet, at which time He will gather you to Himself, because, for His sake, you are forgiven for all of your sins.