Epaphras Letters

Jesus promises you important work… the same work that is to be done by the Spirit of truth.  The work to be done is simply this:  bear witness to Jesus… bear witness about him… The work promised you is the same work done by John the Baptist as he lifted up his bony finger, pointed to Jesus Christ as he walked by, and announced, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn. 1:29). The work promised you is the work which Jesus delivered to his disciples as he sent them out into the world, even unto the ends of the earth: “You will be my witnesses… (Acts 1:8). The conditions of this sending are to be the same conditions under which Jesus was sent: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you…” (Jn. 20:21). You have comfort in this promise. There is nothing conditional about it.  Jesus plainly says, “you also will bear witness” (Jn. 15:27). Once the Spirit of truth has borne witness to you about Jesus Christ who himself is “the way, the truth, and the life…” (Jn. 14:6), how can you help but bear witness to the one who is solely and exclusively not error but the one and only way… not lies but the one and only truth… not death but the one and only life? You will know the truth and the truth will set you free… (Jn. 8:36) free… free to declare, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

Prayers from sinners reluctant to be witnesses to the one who takes away their sin…

Father, the Spirit of truth has come from you, grant me ears to hear the Spirit’s witness by the Word of Jesus Christ so that I would know Jesus as the one and only way… truth… and life. For Jesus’ sake, forgive my sins.

Father, the Spirit of truth has come from you, grant me such faith in the Spirit’s witness that I would join John the Baptist pointing out Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. For Jesus’ sake, forgive my sins.

Father, the Spirit of truth has come from you, hold me in the certainty of such faith that I do not doubt my work as a witness to Jesus Christ. For Jesus’ sake, forgive my sins.

Father, the Spirit of truth has come from you, grant that I would have throat, lips, and tongue to declare the Lamb of God to my neighbors that they, too, would receive life in his name. For Jesus’ sake, forgive my sins.

Father, the Spirit of truth has come from you, hold my declarative witness before my neighbors and give them ears to hear that they, too, would know Jesus as the one and only way… truth… and life… For Jesus’ sake, forgive my sins.

Father, the Spirit of truth has come from you, grant that the Institute of Lutheran Theology be sustained and does not cease in its bearing witness to Jesus Christ. For Jesus’ sake, forgive my sins.

Father, the Spirit of truth has come from you, hold me confident and certain during these days of my baptism that I have work to do… work that you’ve given me… work that cannot be prevented… because it is work which you have promised me. For Jesus’ sake, forgive my sins.

The figures of speech which Jesus used to say things to the disciples and to the crowds were parables.  Parables were Jesus’ common form of discourse (cf. Mt. 13:34 & Mk. 4:33 & Lk. 8:10).  Sometimes, when Jesus had used a parable as a figure of speech with the crowd, he would explain it to the disciples, see for example Jesus’ explanation of the Parable of the Sower (Mt. 13:18-23).  Here in this passage, Jesus announces that the time for figures of speech will come to an end.  Jesus will speak plainly about the Father.  You can hear the Apostle Paul echo this plain speaking when he writes of “knowing fully even as I am fully known” (1 Cor. 13:12).  Both Jesus and Paul—along with the rest of scripture—assure us that clarity, full knowledge, and complete understanding are not possible to us while we are in the flesh, broken by sin, and bound to this world that is passing away.  We receive the clarity of the gospel: “Your sins are forgiven for Jesus’ sake.”  Much of the rest suffers under our sinners’ speculation and awaits that coming hour when plain speaking is manifest.

Prayers from those who need relief from their idle speculation…

Father in heaven your love is plain and obvious in your Son Jesus Christ, grant that we would enjoy the forgiveness of our sin in his name.  For Jesus’ sake.  Amen

Father in heaven your love is plain and obvious in your Son Jesus Christ, confront us with our guilt in the killing of the love you sent us in Jesus Christ that we may be repented unto faith.  For Jesus’ sake.  Amen

Father in heaven your love is plain and obvious in your Son Jesus Christ, hold us in such faith, repent us again and again into it, and keep us continually returning to the promise of our baptism.  For Jesus’ sake.  Amen

Father in heaven your love is plain and obvious in your Son Jesus Christ.  As we live out the promise of our baptism, grant us to see our neighbors with new eyes that we would be useful to them by providing them with daily bread.  For Jesus’ sake.  Amen

Father in heaven your love is plain and obvious in your Son Jesus Christ.  As we provide our neighbors with daily bread, work upon them, Father, that they would be instrumental in providing daily bread to us.  For Jesus’ sake.  Amen

Father in heaven your love is plain and obvious in your Son Jesus Christ.  Grant to the Institute of Lutheran Theology the proclamation of this Son of Yours so that its participants would know of your steadfast love and faithfulness.  For Jesus’ sake.  Amen

Father in heaven your love is plain and obvious in your Son Jesus Christ.  As I await the coming of your Son in glory, keep me patient and useful in these days of my baptism.  For Jesus’ sake.  Amen

The Holy Spirit declares to you all that belongs to Jesus. The Father has given Jesus everything the Father has.  By the declaration of the Holy Spirit, you receive all the Father has given to the Son. This is the work of Trinity:  that you should have what the Father has and what the Son has. This work reveals God to you. You can be confident that as the Holy Spirit works through the Word, God is revealed fully and completely.  Concerning God, the prophet Isaiah tells us, “Surely, you are a God who hides himself” (Is. 45:15). Indeed, this is true. Outside of his Word, God hides himself because he does not want to be known there. He wants to be known in and through his Word, Jesus Christ.  In his Word… in Jesus Christ… God is transparent… revealed… vulnerable… You can lay hands on him, and you do… There in the sacrament you grasp his body… you clutch the cup of his blood. You touch your God. Your God is there for you.

Father in Heaven, your Son sends the Holy Spirit that we would receive what is his. Receive our thanks. Amen

Father in Heaven, your Son sends the Holy Spirit that we would receive a faith that possesses us. Receive our thanks. Amen

Father in Heaven, your Son sends the Holy Spirit that we would rest in complete confidence in what has been revealed to us. Receive our thanks. Amen

Father in Heaven, your Son sends the Holy Spirit so that we need not speculate or question whether God is for us or against us. Receive our thanks. Amen

Father in Heaven, your Son sends the Holy Spirit to hold your Word in our ears between the times it is proclaimed to us. Receive our thanks. Amen

Father in Heaven, your Son sends the Holy Spirit so that those gathered beneath the preaching of your Word would be fashioned into the body of Christ. Receive our thanks. Amen

Father in Heaven, your Son sends the Holy Spirit, grant that the Institute of Lutheran Theology receive it as well. Receive our thanks. Amen

Father in Heaven, your Son sends the Holy Spirit, grant that its work sustain us during these days of waiting. Receive our thanks. Amen

Joy possesses an exuberance bordering on, and often erupting in celebration. Joy arises from a deep sense of satisfaction and contentment. Joy is drawn from us by the presence of Jesus Christ.  Jesus’ promise is true: no one can take our joy from us. Our joy comes in the presence of Jesus Christ who has also given us another promise, “I will be with you until the end of the age” (Mt. 28:20). Often, Jesus’ presence is obscured from us, covered over by the cares, trials, and afflictions of this world broken as it is by sin. At those times, the obscurity demands to be ripped asunder, rolled back, so that the presence of Christ would shine on us again and we would know our joy once more. The Apostle Paul has put it like this, “…we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope…” (Ro. 5:3-4). The Apostle James puts it like this, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds…” (Ja. 1:2). The Apostle Peter tells us, “But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed” (1 Pe. 4:13). Suffering with its concomitant obscuring of our Lord’s presence demands the hearing of promises such as these so that the light of their truth will shine in the midst of suffering’s darkness.

Heavenly Father, you would have us satisfied and content, joyous, in the presence of Jesus Christ. Grant us such ears that we would hear our Lord’s promises in your Word whenever Jesus’ presence becomes obscured by our afflictions. For Jesus’ sake. Amen

Heavenly Father, you would have us satisfied and content, joyous, in the presence of Jesus Christ. Grant us, in the hearing of your Word of promise, that the Holy Spirit would work upon us a faith that comes to possess us. For Jesus’ sake. Amen

Heavenly Father, you would have us satisfied and content, joyous, in the presence of Jesus Christ. Grant that being possessed by such faith we come to confidence in the presence of Jesus Christ even as we are afflicted and tormented. For Jesus’ sake. Amen

Heavenly Father, you would have us satisfied and content, joyous, in the presence of Jesus Christ. Grant that this satisfaction and contentment extend to my neighbors both near and far such that I do not covet what is theirs. For Jesus’ sake. Amen

Heavenly Father, you would have us satisfied and content, joyous, in the presence of Jesus Christ. Grant that my joy in the presence of Jesus Christ bursts into celebration such that my neighbors will be drawn in and celebrate as well. For Jesus’ sake. Amen

Heavenly Father, you would have us satisfied and content, joyous, in the presence of Jesus Christ. Grant that the Institute of Lutheran Theology knows such joy in the presence of Jesus Christ. For Jesus’ sake. Amen

Heavenly Father, you would have us satisfied and content, joyous, in the presence of Jesus Christ. Grant that such joy accompanies me all the days of my baptism and shines its light upon the darkness of the days while I wait for Jesus’ manifestation in glory. For Jesus’ sake. Amen

When Jesus addresses these words to his disciples, he addresses them as his sheep of the Jewish fold, particularly those of the local region.  That Jesus speaks of “sheep not of this fold” portends the sending out of the apostles “to the ends of the earth” (Acts. 1:8).  This is a good thing!  You and I are the descendants of those “sheep not of this fold.”  Jesus makes three promises concerning those “other sheep.”  The first promise is that he will bring them (vs. 16).  He will bring them into his growing and expanding fold.  The second promise is that of hearing; they will “Listen to my voice” (vs. 16).  Those other sheep, when gathered into Jesus’ fold, receive the gift of hearing… hearing their shepherd’s voice.  The third promise concerns the result of this gathering and listening.  It results in the union and unanimity of the flock and the shepherd (vs. 16).  There will not be many flocks but one flock.  Neither will there be many shepherds but one shepherd.  These promises reassure you, separated by time, locale, and parentage from those first gathered sheep, that you belong to that one flock (the flock called into existence by the voice of the good shepherd) and that together with all that flock you have one shepherd, the shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep.  You, too, are children of the promise (cf. Acts 2:39; Ro. 9:8; Gal. 4:28 among others).

Prayers from those children of the promise…

Our Father in heaven, your Son Jesus Christ has claimed us to be children of the promise.  Grant to me, Father, that even when my flesh proves me a sinner, my faith holds me as a child of God.  For Jesus’ sake.  Amen

Our Father in heaven, your Son Jesus Christ has claimed us to be children of the promise.  Give me such ears that I may hear the voice of my good shepherd so that I am established within his one flock.  For Jesus’ sake.  Amen

Our Father in heaven, your Son Jesus Christ has claimed us to be children of the promise, continue me in the knowing of my good shepherd, confident that as he knows me so to0 do I know him.  For Jesus’ sake.  Amen

Our Father in heaven, your Son Jesus Christ has claimed us to be children of the promise, use the voice of my good shepherd to reveal to me those sheep who are gathered with me into his one flock.  For Jesus’ sake.  Amen

Our Father in heaven, your Son Jesus Christ has claimed us to be children of the promise.  Grant that as the other sheep are revealed to me, that these sheep and I would come to trust one another as we have trusted our good shepherd.  For Jesus’ sake.  Amen

Our Father in heaven, your Son Jesus Christ has claimed us to be children of the promise.  Hold the Institute of Lutheran Theology within the one flock and beneath the one good shepherd that it, too, would listen to his voice.  For Jesus’ sake.  Amen

Our Father in heaven, your Son Jesus Christ has claimed us to be children of the promise.  While this sinful flesh of mine still endures, grant to me the eager anticipation of my good shepherd’s return in glory when he will take me to his Father’s house where I and all the children of the promise will have the run of the household.  For Jesus’ sake.  Amen

 The Office of the Keys, the authority to forgive sins, or not.  In a culture that has discarded the notion of sin, the power and authority of this office has been trashed as well. The culture and religious tradition out of which Jesus established the Office of the Keys held the forgiveness of sins to be so precious that God alone could forgive sins (cf. Mk. 2:7).  Yet, in establishing his disciples in this office, Jesus bestows upon them God-like power and authority. Now, like God, they can forgive sins, or not. The choice is up to them. Forgive the sinner? Or hold their sins against them? The officeholder must decide. Through the years, some officeholders attempted to burden the sinner with the decision, relieving the officeholder of having to decide. The sinner bears the burden of repentance and sorrow, amendment of life, and proper contrition. Then, the officeholder can easily forgive sins because the sinner has proved worthy of receiving absolution or deserving of having their sins bound to them. Either way, the officeholder abdicates the God-like power and authority to forgive, or not, by shifting the burden to the sinner. What was once so desired (to be like God) that Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, has been sloughed off in the practicing of the Office of the Keys.

Prayers from officeholders of the Office of the Keys . . .

Heavenly Father, your Son bestowed this office upon those who would be his followers, grant us to grasp this God-like power and authority so that we would forgive sins, or not. For Jesus’ sake. Amen

Heavenly Father, your Son bestowed this office upon those who would be his followers, as we wield this God-like power and authority, grant us both faith and courage to wield it wisely. For Jesus’ sake. Amen

Heavenly Father, your Son bestowed this office upon those who would be his follower, even in faith and in courage we still act in error, grant us to seek forgiveness when we err. For Jesus’ sake. Amen

Heavenly Father, your Son bestowed this office upon those who would be his followers, let us look upon our neighbors with mercy, forgiving their sins rather than binding them. For Jesus’ sake. Amen

Heavenly Father, your Son bestowed this office upon those who would be his followers, grant that my neighbors would look upon me with mercy and forgive my sins rather than binding them to me. For Jesus’ sake. Amen

Heavenly Father, your Son bestowed this office upon those who would be his followers, grant that the Institute of Lutheran Theology live out of the forgiveness of sins and their binding. For Jesus’ sake. Amen

Heavenly Father, your Son bestowed this office upon those who would be his followers, during these days of my baptism grant that I might discern those places where this office is exercised and then know where to locate the church that I might receive your Word and your Sacraments.   For Jesus’ sake.  Amen

Mary, Mary, and Salome had been seized by trembling and astonishment.  The women were in the grip of those overwhelming emotions.  The three no longer had control of their feet nor their intentions.  They had been seized by a power… an overwhelming power… that gripped them and in the grip of that power they fled and kept their silence.  This experience of the three women is the negative of the experience of being gripped by the Holy Spirit, seized by faith, and overwhelmed by its power.  Like those three women seized by trembling and astonishment, those seized by faith and in the grip of the Holy Spirit no longer have control.  Jesus alludes to this when he responds to the Pharisees who want him to silence the crowd of disciples praising him, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out” (Lk. 19:40).  When the Holy Spirit delivers Jesus Christ to be your life (cf. Gal. 2:20 & Col. 3:3-4), you are seized by his faith, held in its grip, and overwhelmed by its power.  You are no longer in control.  This faith is not that faith which you possess as a virtue.  No!  This faith is the faith that possesses you.  Rather than the fear that drives you to flee and keep silent, this faith that possesses you draws you in and gives you a voice.  Alleluia, Christ is risen!

Prayers from those possessed by faith and the life of Christ . . . 

Father in heaven, you have given Jesus Christ to be the life of my mortal existence so that I would live by his faith, so hold me in his faith that I am drawn near to you, kept in the company of others in his faith, and given a voice for witness to the empty tomb.  Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed.  Alleluia!

Father in heaven, you have given Jesus Christ to be the life of my mortal existence so that I would live by his faith, as I am held in his faith, grant that I love spontaneously without consideration of how I might benefit.  Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed.  Alleluia!

Father in heaven, you have given Jesus Christ to be the life of my mortal existence so that I would live by his faith, as I spontaneously love my neighbors both near and far, grant me to be satisfied without envy or discontent.  Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed.  Alleluia!

Father in heaven, you have given Jesus Christ to be the life of my mortal existence so that I would live by his faith, as I live in contentment and peace grant that my satisfaction would be nourished by the regular hearing of your Word.  Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed.  Alleluia!

Father in heaven, you have given Jesus Christ to be the life of my mortal existence so that I would live by his faith, reveal to me how I am possessed by his faith while the faith I possess as a virtue is exposed as weak and faltering.  Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed.  Alleluia!

Father in heaven, you have given Jesus Christ to be the life of my mortal existence so that I would live by his faith, grant me to come alongside the Institute of Lutheran Theology so that it, too, would come to be possessed by the faith of Jesus Christ.  Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed.  Alleluia!

Father in heaven, you have given Jesus Christ to be the life of my mortal existence so that I would live by his faith, during these days of my mortality… while I await my physical death of going down to the dust of my origin… while I am returned again and again to the promises of my baptism… during these days continue to provide the faith that possesses me so that I do not come to depend upon the weak and faltering virtue that I call my faith.  Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed.  Alleluia!

Pilate possessed some political savvy, and he was an observant man.  He could see those chief priests and elders moving among the people, egging them on, feeding the frenzy of envy until it overcame them.  Pilate used the means he had to attempt the release of Jesus but in the end, he surrendered Jesus to the crowd and its murderous intent.  The people’s stirred-up envy would not be placated; satisfaction would be its only release.  That same sort of envy burns in all sinners’ hearts.  Envy and covetousness are two very human and sinful emotions lurking at the door of your heart (Ge. 4:7).  They are easily stirred up by what your eyes see and come to covet as Eve came to covet the fruit of the tree (cf. Ge. 3:6).  They are easily stirred up by those who, like the chief priests and the elders of old, manipulate you into accomplishing their purposes… their agenda.  In contrast, the Apostle Paul teaches us the satisfaction of having Jesus Christ.  In him we have everything.  By faith in Jesus Christ, we are given satisfaction and we learn contentment.

Prayers from those so obsessed by the fear of missing out that envy and covetousness allow them no contentment…

Father in heaven, your Son Jesus Christ is our contentment.  Grant that he be handed over to us in Word and Sacrament so that we are freed from the tyranny of envy and covetousness.  Merciful Father, grant this.  Amen

Father in heaven, your Son Jesus Christ is our contentment.  Grant that our ears do not listen to the lies of Satan as others try to stir up envy and covetousness within our hearts.  Merciful Father, grant this.  Amen

Father in heaven, your Son Jesus Christ is our contentment.  Grant that in Christ we possess all things and rest there, content and satisfied.  Merciful Father, grant this.  Amen

Father in heaven, your Son Jesus Christ is our contentment.  Grant that we do not use the envy and covetousness of others to accomplish our own purposes or agendas.  Merciful Father, grant this.  Amen

Father in heaven, your Son Jesus Christ is our contentment.  Grant that we and our neighbors may live together, content and satisfied with Christ as our life.  Merciful Father, grant this.  Amen

Father in heaven, your Son Jesus Christ is our contentment.  Grant that the Institute of Lutheran Theology be free from the tyranny of envy and covetousness.  Merciful Father, grant this.  Amen

Father in heaven, your Son Jesus Christ is our contentment.  Grant us to wait with patience and hope for the coming of your Son Jesus Christ in his glory.  Merciful Father, grant this.  Amen

Jesus makes a promise in this confrontation with the Jews.  He makes a similar promise when he is confronted by Mary and Martha at their brother Lazarus’ death.  In that situation, the promise is worded like this, “I am the resurrection and the life.  The one who believes in me will live even if he dies, and the who lives and believes in me will never die” (Jn. 11:25-26).  In both the public confrontation with the Jews and the more intimate confrontation with Martha and Mary, the issue is death and Jesus is its solution.  What’s more, the solution Jesus brings is not what he does but in who he is.  To Martha, he simply says, “I am the resurrection and the life.”  “I,” Jesus says, “am.”  In his very being… in his very person… in his existence… he is the resurrection… he is the life… our eternal life.  While Martha can confess her faith in the Christ, the Son of God, the Jews cannot say the same.  The reality of death is too much for them; the gaping mouth of the grave intimidates them beyond the assurance of faith.  Just so, they receive the accusation from Jesus regarding his Father and theirs, “You have not known him” (Jn. 8:55).

Prayers from those intimidated by the gaping mouth of the grave…

Heavenly Father, your Son is my resurrection and my life, grant to me such faith that I can rest in his declaration even as the grave awaits me.  Merciful Father, hear my prayer.

Heavenly Father, your Son is my resurrection and my life, Abraham died, the prophets died, Jesus died, and all those who have gone before me in the faith have died.  Hold me secure in Jesus as my resurrection and life that I too may die in faith.  Merciful Father, hear my prayer.

Heavenly Father, your Son is my resurrection and my life, give me confidence in the promises of my baptism especially the one that promises me that being baptized into a death like Jesus,’ I have been certainly baptized into a resurrection like his.  Merciful Father, hear my prayer.

Heavenly Father, your Son is my resurrection and my life, this promise from Jesus Christ my Lord is too precious to keep to myself.  Give me lips, tongue, and throat to share this promise with my neighbors near and far.  Merciful Father, hear my prayer.

Heavenly Father, your Son is my resurrection and my life, as I speak the name of Jesus and proclaim him as the resurrection and life, grant that I see my neighbor’s need for daily bread and that I work to supply their needs to them.  Merciful Father, hear my prayer.

Heavenly Father, your Son is my resurrection and my life, put this promise from Jesus into the mouths of all those at the Institute of Lutheran Theology that the word of Jesus will be their best proclamation to the world.  Merciful Father, hear my prayer.

Heavenly Father, your Son is my resurrection and my life, during these days of my baptism, I will be tempted to seek other reassurance when death looms.  Grant, though, that I confess such error and am returned to faith in Christ… Christ alone.  Merciful Father, hear my prayer.

The crowd followed Jesus out of its own self-interest.  The people, members of the crowd, had witnessed the healings Jesus had performed upon the sick… had witnessed the demons cast out from the possessed… had witnessed these signs, and coveted them for themselves—that is, they were concerned for their own self-interest.  This self-interest is confirmed when we come to the conclusion of our text.  First, we are told that the people witness the feeding of the crowd, realize that it’s a sign, and proclaim Jesus a prophet (vs. 14).  Then, out of their concern for their own self-interest, the people would seize him and make him king (vs. 15).  They would impose a responsibility upon him:  provide for us and for our self-interest.  The crowd’s reaction exposes it in its sinfulness.  The Scripture text exposes us in our own sinfulness.  We want Jesus… we want God… we want the religious life for what we can get out of it.  When you are enticed to believe in God and his Son, Jesus Christ, by the benefits promised to you—that is, the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation—you fall prey to indulging your own self-interest.  You are guilty, then, of Satan’s accusation delivered in Job 1:9.  You love God for your benefit rather than loving God for himself.  That self-interested love is the bondage of your will.

Prayers from those bound to their own self-interest…

Heavenly Father, your abundance falls upon the righteous and the unrighteous alike, grant me to confess the coveting of my own self-interest that I may love you and your Son for yourselves alone.  Merciful Lord, hear my prayer.

Heavenly Father, your abundance falls upon the righteous and the unrighteous alike, grant me to receive your abundance as a blessing upon my love for you rather than its cause.  Merciful Lord, hear my prayer.

Heavenly Father, your abundance falls upon the righteous and the unrighteous alike, grant me to love you even when your abundance fails to be obvious and is so far from my sight.  Merciful Lord, hear my prayer.

Heavenly Father, your abundance falls upon the righteous and the unrighteous alike, grant me to forgive the unrighteous ones when your abundance falls upon them in plentitude.  Merciful Lord, hear my prayer.

Heavenly Father, your abundance falls upon the righteous and the unrighteous alike, grant that the unrighteous forgive me when I receive blessing beyond measure while they do not.  Merciful Lord, hear my prayer.