The Transfiguration of Our Lord, February 9, 2025

Peter is no fabulist. He does not tell tall tales. Peter, James, and John witnessed the Transfiguration and heard the Father’s voice speak from heaven, claiming Jesus as “his dear Son” (vs. 17). The Israelite tradition ensconced in their legal code required the testimony of at least two witnesses to establish a matter (Deu. 19:15 & Jn. 8:17 and others). Peter conveys the truth regarding Jesus’ receiving honor and glory from God. Under Israelite tradition and law, the matter was established and true.

Furthermore, Peter goes on to demonstrate the truth of the prophetic word. It is reliable (vs. 19). It is a light amid dimness (vs. 19). The words of the prophet are not mere imaginings (vs. 20). Those words are from God. They are delivered to the prophet by the Holy Spirit (vs. 21), not by human impulse. Peter invokes the two-witness rule once again.  Only this time, the witnesses are not Peter, James, and John but the prophet and the Holy Spirit.

At the time when the disciples replaced Judas (who had betrayed Jesus), the criterion for selection stated that the candidates be among those who had been with them accompanying Jesus (Acts 1:21). The candidate, one who would be chosen by the casting of lots, would be like the eleven remaining disciples: an official witness to the resurrection.

The Israelites… the Jews… had an established procedure for establishing a matter: the testimony of at least two witnesses. Peter appeals to this well-known procedure in his denial of conveying concocted fables. The other disciples, sent out by Jesus to bear witness to him, counted on the same procedure to establish the matter of Jesus’ resurrection. Your preacher, having heard the testimony of many witnesses spoken from one generation to the next, establishes the matter in your hearing.

Table Talk: Discuss how you establish a matter… establish it in truth… in fact… in reality… and under the law.

Pray: Heavenly Father, establish me in the reality of Jesus’ resurrection that I may know the truth of my Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

2 Peter 1:16-21 (ESV)

16 For we did not follow cleverly concocted fables when we made known to you the power and return of our Lord Jesus Christ; no, we were eyewitnesses of his grandeur. 17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father, when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory: “This is my dear Son, in whom I am delighted.” 18 When this voice was conveyed from heaven, we ourselves heard it, for we were with him on the holy mountain. 19 Moreover, we possess the prophetic word as an altogether reliable thing. You do well if you pay attention to this as you would to a light shining in a murky place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you do well if you recognize this: No prophecy of scripture ever comes about by the prophet’s own imagination, 21 for no prophecy was ever borne of human impulse; rather, men carried along by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

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The Presentation of Our Lord, February 2, 2025

The devil, Satan, holds the power of death. The power of death binds the whole creation so tightly that it groans (Ro. 8:32). Death enslaves by fear, and death enslaves those who know they are going to die. This knowledge of death has been passed down from generation to generation ever since God announced to Adam, “In the day you eat of it (the fruit of the tree of knowledge), you shall surely die” (Ge. 2:17). This knowledge—terrible, fearsome, and enslaving—forces the descendants of Adam and Eve to seek remedies. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ernest Becker has described these human-devised remedies to avoid or deny this enslaving knowledge. They use religion, culture, family, and personal achievement (among other things) to build what Becker calls immortality projects. These projects give people a sense that they will live on even though they die (Jn. 11:25). This sense comforts them and reduces what Becker calls Generative Death Anxiety.

Applying Becker’s insights to the text today: the devil, Satan, uses Generative Death Anxiety to bind people to their immortality projects. Satan enslaves them, putting them to work through performing pious religious deeds, participating and contributing to an enduring culture, forming a family that is generations long, and establishing a life of moral beauty and good works memorialized into the future. By their very visibility, these immortality projects, helpful and beneficial in themselves, take away hope (Ro. 8:24) and replace faith (2 Cor. 5:17). Christianity becomes a religion of works, a mere series of immortality projects useful for Christians to reduce their Generative Death Anxiety.

Jesus changes all of that! Jesus is your immortality. In his death, Jesus has destroyed the power of death. In his death and resurrection, Jesus has set you free from Generative Death Anxiety. You do not need those immortality projects. They may be helpful and beneficial ways to pass the time between your sacramental death in baptism and your physical death of going down to the grave, but they do not provide immortality. Only Jesus does that. Believe it! You are set free!

Table Talk: Discuss the shadow death has cast upon humanity or your life personally.

Pray: Heavenly Father, give me such faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection that my immortality projects are exposed. Amen

Hebrews 2:14-18 (ESV)

14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he likewise shared in their humanity, so that through death he could destroy the one who holds the power of death (that is, the devil), 15 and set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death. 16 For surely his concern is not for angels, but he is concerned for Abraham’s descendants. 17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in things relating to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 For since he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.

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The Third Sunday After Epiphany, January 26, 2025

Paul shocks the Romans to whom he is writing. The Greeks and Romans—merely stand-ins for the civilized world—would have understood that righteousness, especially a righteousness like that unto God’s, was something humans could achieve. Plato exemplified this doctrine, which has held hold of the human race since it ate the fruit of that deadly tree. Paul simply declares that righteousness belongs to God alone. With such a declaration, Paul stands counter to the prevalent belief both then and now. Such a claim reduces human enterprise to the mere penultimate. Its reasoning goes like this: when righteousness is God’s alone, all other persons must be unrighteous, making salvation a gift to the unrighteous or impious. Only the godless have a place with God. Think of Jesus’ words here: “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Lk. 5:32).

Paul moves from this shocking declaration to how his hearers might come to know God’s righteousness: It is revealed in the Gospel. That means the revelation itself is the exercise of God’s power… God’s specific power for salvation (vs. 16). The revelation of this power for salvation is given to all who believe. You must not assume here that belief is a work of yours that is traded in some transactional manner to God, and the revelation is what God gives you in return. Cast that assumption aside. The revelation creates the belief that receives it. This belief… this faith created by the gospel… is the life of the righteous because it has been as of old, “The righteous by faith will live” (vs. 17).

Paul is eager to preach the gospel to those in Rome (vs. 15). Paul desires mutual comfort that comes from one faith and is shared by another (vs. 12).  In this mutual comfort, one faith to another faith, the power of God is at work through the gospel. Here, you can discern the origins of Luther’s “conversation and consolation of the saints” as a means of grace. The gospel moves from faith to faith and then back again, faith to faith. The power of God… the salvation of God… and indeed, the gospel of God… all come together in that mutual comfort when the saints converse and console one another with the gospel.

Table Talk: Discuss the distinction between living by faith and living by works.

Pray: Heavenly Father, grant me the enjoyment of being mutually comforted by one another’s faith. Amen

Romans 1:8-17 (ESV)

8 First of all, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world. 9 For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the gospel of his Son, is my witness that I continually remember you, 10 and I always ask in my prayers if, perhaps now at last, I may succeed in visiting you according to the will of God. 11 For I long to see you, so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you, 12 that is, that we may be mutually comforted by one another’s faith, both yours and mine. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I often intended to come to you (and was prevented until now), so that I may have some fruit even among you, just as I already have among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I am a debtor both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 Thus I am eager also to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome.

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel from faith to faith, just as it is written, “The righteous by faith will live.”

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The Second Sunday After Epiphany, January 19, 2025

What a promise! In the grace of God, we have gifts, unique gifts. Christians are not cookie-cutter the same. We are unique, distinct persons. Even as the new creature in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17), the work of God’s grace delivers us into personal individuality. The work of God’s grace does not add supernatural abilities or powers to our natural human ones. God’s grace is a work of God that puts miserable sinners to death, ending their misery. Out of that death, God’s grace raises up saints to walk in the newness of life. The death worked by grace is the alien work of God. The raising up worked by God’s grace is the proper work of God. God grants his gifts through his alien and his proper work.

These eleven verses hold twenty-nine distinct commands. The imperatives overwhelm us. Their demands weigh us down. The charge of hypocrisy haunts us. Idolatry lies not far from us as pride and despair tempt us: the hypocrisy of pride claims us when we think of attaining the commands; the hypocrisy of despair claims us when we think of failing the commands. We come to idolize either our attaining or our failing. Relief from this burden… relief from this weight of demands… relief comes only through death. God’s promise and prophecy given to Adam there in the Garden of Eden must be brought to fruition, “In the day you eat of it, you shall surely die” (Ge. 2:17). Just so, God’s grace carries out God’s alien work and puts the sinner—that’s you—to death. But God’s grace is not through with you. Grace reaches into that death to fulfill another promise, “Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live…” (Jn. 11:25).  Just so, God’s grace carries out his proper work of raising up sinners to newness of life as children of God.

Children of God have new ears that go along with being a new creature in Christ. These new ears hear no threat in these eleven verses as holding commands. No, these verses simply describe what the children of God will be doing, not because they are commanded to it but because it is now their nature to do it. Children of God cannot help themselves. They must… they will… and they do… love without hypocrisy.

Table Talk: Discuss the difference between love on command and spontaneous love.

Pray: Heavenly Father, work your will upon me that I would receive both your alien work and your proper work. Amen

Romans 12:6-16 (ESV)

6 And we have different gifts according to the grace given to us. If the gift is prophecy, that individual must use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is service, he must serve; if it is teaching, he must teach; 8 if it is exhortation, he must exhort; if it is contributing, he must do so with sincerity; if it is leadership, he must do so with diligence; if it is showing mercy, he must do so with cheerfulness.

9 Love must be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil, cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another with mutual love, showing eagerness in honoring one another. 11 Do not lag in zeal, be enthusiastic in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, endure in suffering, persist in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints, pursue hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty but associate with the lowly. Do not be conceited.

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The Baptism of Our Lord, January 12, 2025

Paul announces God’s rejection of worldly “somethings” for the preference of the divinely chosen nothings. These rejections and preferences set out by Paul and drawn upon by Luther for his theology of the cross precipitate the division of the assembly of hearers brought about by the preaching of Christ, him crucified, and him alone. This division is worked by God himself. We suffer in this division because we are unsure where the line is drawn. The division is marked by the line between believers and unbelievers. That line of belief/unbelief is drawn around the assembly, between it and the unassembled. That line of belief/unbelief is drawn among those assembled, separating those with faith and the Holy Spirit in the heart from those who are merely assembled. And that line of unbelief is drawn within the believer who “stands under judgment for his lack of faith and lives alone by God’s continued work of salvation,” as said by Vilmos Vajta.

God chose the world’s foolish; God chose the world’s weak; and God chose the world’s low and despised. In those choosings, God would, respectively, shame the wise, shame the strong, and bring to nothing the things that are. In the Mediterranean world at Paul’s time, to shame was to destroy… to bring down to nothing. God chooses to bring all these things to nothing so that he can create ex nihilo—out of nothing. Notice that God’s gracious choosing did not make the world’s foolish wise; it did not make the world’s weak strong; it did not make the world’s low and despised into its high and admired. Lowliness, weakness, and foolishness would then be used by God in denial of his creation ex nihilo.  God brings to nothing the things that are, so that Jesus Christ, him crucified, and him alone is everything to us. Jesus is the one something to all of our nothings. Paul reiterates this theme in Galatians, “For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself” (Gal. 6:3). Out of nothing (that is you, the unbeliever), God creates a believer (that is, a new creature in Christ Jesus—2 Cor. 5:17).

Table Talk: Discuss why you think God must create believers out of nothing.

Pray: Heavenly Father, make me nothing so that Jesus Christ will be my one and only something. Amen

I Corinthians 1:26-31 (ESV)

26 Think about the circumstances of your call, brothers and sisters. Not many were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were born to a privileged position. 27 But God chose what the world thinks foolish to shame the wise, and God chose what the world thinks weak to shame the strong. 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, what is regarded as nothing, to set aside what is regarded as something, 29 so that no one can boast in his presence. 30 He is the reason you have a relationship with Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

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The Day of Epiphany, January 6, 2025

Paul is captive. Christ Jesus is his captor. Paul is now the prisoner of Jesus Christ. Prisoners receive only what their captors… their jailers… provide for them. Paul received a “stewardship” of God’s grace (vs. 2). In this stewardship, the mystery of Christ was revealed to him. Paul received what had previously not been disclosed, namely that the gospel of Jesus Christ is not merely for the Jews but is given to the Gentiles as well (vs. 6). For grasping the magnitude of this gift, understand that Paul knew only two kinds of people: Jews and Gentiles. The revelation of God’s secret plan proclaimed Jesus Christ as the savior of the entire world—all of its people, not merely the Jews.

Neither Jew nor Gentile bore responsibility for this hidden mystery. Paul (called and sent) received the gift of apostleship by the grace of God, who, in the power of the Father, bestowed the gift upon Paul. Paul’s commission (1 Cor. 9:17) had him “the least of all saints” (vs. 8), preaching this revelation not only to the Gentiles but also disclosing it to the “rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms” (vs. 10).

The result accomplished by God in Christ Jesus—Paul’s Lord—is that now Paul and we are given two blessings: 1) boldness and 2) confident access to God. The boldness is ours not from any quality or behavior of our own but simply because Jesus Christ was faithful. We are bold before the Father and the world even when all the circumstances would deny such boldness. Again, our confident access to God is not the result of our pious practices nor of any quality we may possess in and of ourselves. Instead, Christ’s faithfulness and his faithfulness alone (vs. 12) provides such access.

On this Day of Epiphany, when the royal Lordship of Jesus Christ was revealed to the world, we receive from the Apostle Paul the revelation that this baby Jesus Christ and the man he will become is the royal Lord of the Gentiles (that’s you and me, by the way), too. We possess nothing—not one thing—that brought this about. Only the faithfulness of Jesus Christ accomplishes it.

Table Talk: Discuss what it means to you that Jesus Christ’s faithfulness counts instead of your personal worthiness.

Pray: Heavenly Father, grant that I lean on Jesus’ faithfulness and not my own. Amen

Ephesians 3:1-12 (ESV)

For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles 2 if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 that by revelation the mystery was made known to me, as I wrote before briefly. 4 When reading this, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ 5 (which was not disclosed to people in former generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit), 6 namely, that through the gospel the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus. 7 I became a servant of this gospel according to the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the exercise of his power. 8 To me—less than the least of all the saints—this grace was given, to proclaim to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ 9 and to enlighten everyone about God’s secret plan—the mystery that has been hidden for ages in God who has created all things. 10 The purpose of this enlightenment is that through the church the multifaceted wisdom of God should now be disclosed to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly realms. 11 This was according to the eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and confident access to God by way of Christ’s faithfulness.

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The Second Sunday After Christmas, January 5, 2025

No Christian suffers in vain. However, theologians of glory count suffering as foreign to the Christian life. In this, they practice Christian triumphalism and strive for an inappropriate and ill-timed glory. On the other hand, theologians of the cross-count suffering as a blessing. They count it as sharing “in the sufferings of Christ” (vs. 13). Therefore, suffering is not in vain. Here, both apostles, Peter and Paul, preach that the Christian’s suffering joins him or her with the sufferings of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul writes, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my physical body—for the sake of his body, the church—what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ” (Col. 1:24). We may wonder just what could be lacking in the sufferings of Christ. The lack is the application of Christ’s suffering “for you.” You, the Christian, do not suffer in vain. Your pain, affliction, and hardship directly apply Christ’s suffering to you. Jesus Christ, God Incarnate, our Savior and the Redeemer of the World, blesses all suffering by the touch of his flesh. His touch and blessing do not mean that your suffering is justified any more than Christ’s suffering and death were warranted.  That your suffering and Christ’s suffering are unwarranted binds your sufferings together and prompts Peter to admonish his hearers to avoid criminality and trouble (vs. 15) since such behavior would justify your suffering. Peter again joins Paul as they both preach a delayed glory. Peter writes, “… so that when his [Jesus’] glory is revealed, you may also rejoice and be glad” (vs. 13).  Paul writes, “When Christ (who is your life) appears, then you too will be revealed in glory with him” (Co. 3:4). This sequence, suffering first and then glory, is rejected by Christian triumphalism and theologians of glory. Theologians of the cross grasp what Christ preached to his disciples, “A disciple is not greater than his teacher…” (Mt. 10:24; Lk. 6:40; Jn 13:16). So, the Apostle Paul concurs, “…because those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son…” (Ro. 8:29).  The image of Christ in this sin-broken world is that of a man suffering the will of God, being hanged on the cross, and dying—suffering first, glory later (vs. 19).

Table Talk: Discuss those times when you, as a theologian of glory, have practiced Christian triumphalism.

Pray: Heavenly Father, join me in my sufferings to Christ in his. Amen

I Peter4:12-19

12 Dear friends, do not be astonished that a trial by fire is occurring among you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice in the degree that you have shared in the sufferings of Christ, so that when his glory is revealed you may also rejoice and be glad. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory, who is the Spirit of God, rests on you. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or thief or criminal or as a troublemaker. 16 But if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but glorify God that you bear such a name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin, starting with the house of God. And if it starts with us, what will be the fate of those who are disobedient to the gospel of God? 18 And if the righteous are barely saved, what will become of the ungodly and sinners? 19 So then let those who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator as they do good.

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The First Sunday After Christmas, December 29, 2024

The Apostle Paul uses two striking images of the law as he writes to the Christians of Galatia. They describe the law in its purpose and place before the coming of Christ. The first is the image of the law as a jailor in charge of prisoners, keeping them locked up in confinement until their liberator, Jesus Christ, should come (Gal. 3:22-23). The second image is that of a custodian, a person who maintained control of children until their adulthood. This custodian directed their activities and handled their discipline while they were “minors” (Gal. 3:24-25).

Now in chapter 4, Paul employs a third image: the people were little different from slaves while they awaited their inheritance (Gal. 4:1). The terms of the estate’s distribution were set by their father and the children had to bide their time beneath the control of custodians and managers. Even though the heirs possessed it all, as children they were still subject to the “elemental principles of the world” (Gal. 4:3).

But then, the fullness of time arrives. God sends forth his Son. Jesus Christ had to go “under the law” by being born of woman—that is, he was made man (as confessed in the Nicene Creed). Going under the law, Jesus Christ “redeemed those who were under the law…” (Gal. 4:5). Jesus not only went under the law but, as he took on the sin of the whole world, the law found him a sinner—cursed because he hung on a tree—and the law put him to death. His death was the redemption price for all those who were also under the law. Redeemed from the law’s custodianship… freed from the law’s prison… those who had been mere minors become adopted sons and daughters. No longer slaves but heirs, they speak by the Spirit and cry out, “Abba, Father!”

For the Apostle Paul, the Spirit’s work in giving us God as our Father is like that of the Spirit’s work of giving us Jesus as Lord (1 Cor. 12:3). Both are transformations of status. The slave of the household obeys because of who his master is, but the heir of the household cannot help but be who he or she is—an obedient child of a heavenly Father.

Table Talk: Consider the distinction between a slave’s obedience and the behavior of an heir.

Pray: Heavenly Father, so give me Jesus that my jailor and custodian are behind me. Amen

Galatians 4:1-7

1 Now I mean that the heir, as long as he is a minor, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything. 2 But he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. 3 So also we, when we were minors, were enslaved under the basic forces of the world. 4 But when the appropriate time had come, God sent out his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we may be adopted as sons with full rights. 6 And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, who calls “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if you are a son, then you are also an heir through God.

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Christmas Day, December 25, 2024

Paul wrote to Titus, who was sent to proclaim this salvation come for all people. Titus was sent to the island of Crete, a people much maligned by the more cultured mainlanders. The disdained and despised people of that island received the same good news and blessed hope preached to them as did the Jews, the Greeks, and the Romans—all recipients of the apostolic message.

Paul wrote this letter and now you hear it read on the Eve of the Nativity of Our Lord.  In the person of Jesus Christ, the babe born in Bethlehem, God’s grace appeared (vs. 11).  This historic event was witnessed by shepherds, angels, wise men, and parents.  It was heralded as the fulfillment of prophecy:  the bringing of God’s salvation for all people.  There can be no diminishment of the “all people.”  God gave his only begotten Son in love for the entire world.  This includes those whom we would malign, disdain, or despise.  When Jesus sends out his apostles, he sends them to the ends of the earth… to all people… so that they, too, will receive the message of God’s grace appearing in the person of Jesus Christ, bringer of salvation for all people.

This gospel, this good news, proclaimed again and yet again is our trainer.  This mighty Word of God kills and makes alive.  This Word, sharper than any two-edged sword, slices through our pretensions, exposes us in our self-righteousness, and puts to death the Old Adam who always covets the things of God.  This Word, full of mercy and compassion, speaks into the still darkness of our white-washed tombs and calls us forth to live in this present age—the days of our baptism.  Time and again we are trained through dying and being raised so that we would wait… wait for our blessed hope, “the appearing of the glory of our Savior Jesus Christ.”

Table Talk: Consider how salvation is for all people, yet not all persons are saved.

Pray: Father in heaven, place your Word in my ears that I may be joined to the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ, and wait in hope for his appearing.  Amen

Titus 2:11-14

11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

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Christmas Eve, December 24, 2024

The Apostle John is absolutely eloquent here as he extols love, rivaling the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13. For both Paul and John, their writings on love reveal to us that we cannot speak of the love of God for us or speak of our love for the neighbor without speaking of Jesus Christ.  Simply put, the love of God is Jesus Christ given to be the “propitiation for our sins,” the mercy seat whereupon the sins of the world are dealt with once and for all.  This is the love of God.

To say, “God is love” without Christ is speak an abstraction; it declares a general principle, a timeless truth.  These things (abstractions, principles, and timeless truths) are empty statements, devoid of application, demanding to be filled with specifics.  Humans are quite happy to fill them up with whatever suits their fancy.  In just such a way, “God is love” has come to be equated with tolerance, acceptance, hospitality, and many other forms of human kindness.  Because we humans, in our sin, are so adept at manipulating the meaning of “the love of God,” God has taken the definition of love away from us.  The love of God is this: Jesus Christ given for you.

Jesus Christ is not an abstraction:  he confronts you with his person… in his flesh and blood… demanding that you answer this question, “Who do you say that I am?”  Jesus Christ is not a general principle for you to agree with and attempt to put into practice if you’re motivated enough.  Jesus Christ is not a timeless truth standing apart from the muck and mess of this sin-broken world; rather, he is the one truth… the one way… the one life who has come “for you.”  He has come to be the life of you, a lost and condemned sinner.  Jesus Christ, God’s love, is now the love you give to others.  To “love one another” is to give them Jesus Christ “for you.”  Such love is the unique love that Christians deliver.  Christians, as well as pagans, may practice sharing human kindness, but that is not the unique love of God.  The unique love of God is “Jesus for you” to share, one with another.

Table Talk: What results from equating the love of God with human kindness?

Pray: Father, put Christ, your love, in my heart. Amen

I John 4:7-16

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

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