The Fourth Sunday of Advent, December 22, 2024
The Fourth Sunday of Advent, December 22, 2024
“And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10). There is a finality here, an end to things. Jesus Christ offering up his flesh puts an end to something; it delivers a finality. Jesus Christ, “once for all” sacrifices his body. His sacrifice accomplishes our sanctification… accomplishes it completely, for that is the meaning of the “will have been.” That verb tense signifies the completion of an act in the past. This little verse in Hebrews gives us a sanctification which is, like our justification, once and done. Or to put it in the context of Jesus’ sacrifice, it is “once for all…” once for all people… once for all time. Justification AND sanctification both accomplished and competed at one and the same time, simultaneously. We have no intermediate state, something like justified but only partially sanctified or perhaps sanctified but only partially justified. Luther expresses this concept with the Latin phrase “simul et totus iustus et peccator”—that is, simultaneously and totally justified yet sinful. Yes, we are both totally saint and totally sinner at one and the same time. We are saints by faith as we live out of Christ and his life from the New Creation. We are sinners as we live out of the flesh that binds us to life in this broken and sinful world. Faith and flesh, the Word of God establishes the former even as that same Word reveals the on-going sin of our life in the flesh. Because we are sinners, we easily mistake better behavior for an increase in sanctification. Thanks be to God that Jesus Christ delivers us from such a body of death (cf. Ro. 7:24-25).
And so we pray…
Father in heaven, your Son is the new life in us. Grant to us that are dead in our sin to receive his newness of life even as our flesh awaits its mortality. For Jesus’ sake. Amen
Father in heaven, your Son is the new life in us. Grant us such faith that even as our flesh awaits its mortality, we are confident of our immortal life in eternity. For Jesus’ sake. Amen
Father in heaven, your Son is the new life in us. Grant, as we are sent out to serve our neighbors, that our confidence does not disappoint us. For Jesus’ sake. Amen
Father in heaven, your Son is the new life in us. Grant that Christ’s life fills the teaching at the Institute of Lutheran Theology, bringing satisfaction, contentment, and peace to its students and those they serve. For Jesus’ sake. Amen
Father in heaven, your Son is the new life in us. Grant that the days of our baptism provide copious opportunity to hear your Word, Jesus Christ, as we await his coming in glory. For Jesus’ sake. Amen