Lutheran High School Chapel
Joshua 1:1-9; 3:1-17; St Mark 1:9-13
LSB 587
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Moses has died. The Lord buried him. And the grumbling Israelites have been wandering for forty years in the wilderness. Despite their faithlessness, the Lord, in His mercy, miraculously fed them with bread from heaven. Their shoes did not wear out, nor the clothes on their backs. They were faithless. The Lord was faithful. They were petty. The Lord was abundant in mercy. They gave themselves over to idolatry. The Lord remained their God and called them back to Himself through repentance and faith. Remember the whole incident with the snakes and the bronze serpent on the pole?
In His divine mercy for them He provided for their needs of body and soul. He fed them. Forgave them. And now, as the Lord has always done, He provides them with a shepherd, a leader, after the death of Moses His servant.
Yeshua bar Nave was but a young man when he was sent with the eleven others to spy out the Promised Land. Only he and Caleb returned to camp fully convinced that the Lord would do all that He had promised. The other ten spies were frightened at the size of the Canaanites, their fortified cities and large armies. And so Israel complained against the Lord and despised Moses. Thus did the Lord condemn them to wander in the wilderness. An entire generation perished in the desert. Of the generation of men who came out of Egypt, only Joshua and Caleb were permitted to enter the Promised Land.
Here now they stand, at the bank of the Jordan River, ready to receive into their hand all that the Lord has promised to give. Fitting indeed. For the Law can only lead one so far. It can only lead the people of God to the Promised Land. It cannot take possession of it. That was the work of Yeshua.
For it shall not be in the power of their battalion or the strength of their sword that they shall conquer the heathen nations of Canaan. Rather it is through steadfastness to the Word of the Lord and the courage of faith in His promises. For His power is always displayed in weakness and His strength in humility. With instruction from the Lord, Joshua waged war with Jericho with trumpets rather than swords. He made the sun stand still at Gibeon!
City after city, territory after territory, Joshua gave to the children of Israel the land the Lord promised. At the end of the major conquests, he summoned Israel to himself at Shechem to renew the Lord’s covenant with Israel. Here he urged the people, called by God, to decide whom they would serve. The pagan gods of Canaan? Or the one, true God, Lord of heaven and earth? But as for me and my house, said Joshua, we will serve YHWH (Josh 24:15).
He died at the age of 110 and was buried in the hill country of Ephraim (Josh 24:29-30). Through him the Lord made provision for all of Israel. By His grace He provided for His children against all odds.
By His grace and according to His abundant mercy, the Lord has made provision for you too. He has clothed and fed you. He provides for all your needs, not only of body, but also of soul. For when you were dead in your trespasses and sins, faithless and an idolator, the Lord appointed your Yeshua, Jesus, Son of Mary, Son of God, to be your Redeemer and Champion.
He who instructed Joshua to be careful to do according to all the word that Moses My servant commanded; the Book of the Torah shall not depart from his mouth, but mediate on it day and night, is the very Word made flesh, the Torah Incarnate, who has come to give success to the Israel of His Church!
Thus does your Yeshua arrive at the banks of the Jordan. Not Himself to cross over but to be your faithful High Priest and the fulfillment of the Ark of the Covenant. He steps into the waters, receives the baptism of John in order to separate the waters for you, His Israel, so that you may walk in safety to the other side. In your baptism, does He ferries you with Himself from death to life, from wandering to being given a homeland in which He richly and daily provides all of your needs by and from His Word of forgiveness.
He trumpets His mercy and forgiveness against the walls of sin and the stronghold of the devil. He makes the sun to rise and shine upon you, and provides for you, even as you are taught to “give us this day our daily bread.” He welcomes you into His House wherein you are catechized and learn to serve the Lord.
Indeed, beloved, you walk among the pagan Canaanites of this world, in danger on the right and on the left. You sojourn in a land in which you already possess an inheritance of immeasurable value, but do not yet enjoy the fullness thereof. Rather you feel like pilgrims and strangers. Exiles and wanderers. It is easy to acquiesce. Appealing to give in. To succumb to the ways and means of the world, blend into the culture.
Yet you are commanded, Be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the Torah that Moses, the Lord’s servant, has taught. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left. That is, unmoved, stand on His sure Word.
Thus you shall not conquer by the might of your sword, but by the power of the Sword of the Spirit, the very Word of God, slicing and dicing to the heart of the sinner, laying them bare before the fury of His wrath. “God’s Word is all sufficient, it makes divinely sure; and trusting in its wisdom, your faith shall rest secure” (LSB 587:1).
You shall not be victorious through the puffed-up courage of your flesh, but in the repentant humility of sorrow over your sin. Only by dying and rising in the strength and courage of the Lord shall you posses the inheritance He has laid up for you.
For while you were imprisoned under the Law, held captive by the menacing clutches of sin and shame, your Yeshua defeated the armies of Satan and attacked his fortress to retrieve you. He allowed Himself to be beaten and killed, overcoming evil with good. He surrendered Himself to your death that you might live. He arose from the dead, your Savior and Head, and leads you over the Jordan of your baptism through this valley of the shadow of death, to His eternal Promised Land which He has given you; even as you now receive possession of it.
Beloved, He will not leave you. Your Yeshua, your Jesus, will not forsake you. The Lord your God, who put His Name upon you in Holy Baptism, is with you wherever you go. Do not be afraid. Do not be dismayed.
Be strong and courageous. Clothed in the armor of His might. Cling steadfastly to His Word. For He has brought you safely to His House, in which you serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness. Do as He has commanded you to do in the Law of Moses, which is His good and gracious will for your life. Do it not to receive a reward or earn an inheritance, but because it is the Word of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. For by His Word does He grant success. Not as the world gives does He give.
For the success and prosperity of the Lord comes always by way of His Cross, which He has laid upon you. He is faithful and true. He shall protect you from the false doctrine of those who surround you. Only do not turn from His Word. He shall spare your life from those who seek to take it by the sword. Only be strong and courageous, according to the will of He who is at work in you. For your Yeshua has conquered death by His death and distributes His kingdom to you by His grace and according to His mercy. Do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Joshua 1:1-9; 3:1-17; St Mark 1:9-13
LSB 587
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Moses has died. The Lord buried him. And the grumbling Israelites have been wandering for forty years in the wilderness. Despite their faithlessness, the Lord, in His mercy, miraculously fed them with bread from heaven. Their shoes did not wear out, nor the clothes on their backs. They were faithless. The Lord was faithful. They were petty. The Lord was abundant in mercy. They gave themselves over to idolatry. The Lord remained their God and called them back to Himself through repentance and faith. Remember the whole incident with the snakes and the bronze serpent on the pole?
In His divine mercy for them He provided for their needs of body and soul. He fed them. Forgave them. And now, as the Lord has always done, He provides them with a shepherd, a leader, after the death of Moses His servant.
Yeshua bar Nave was but a young man when he was sent with the eleven others to spy out the Promised Land. Only he and Caleb returned to camp fully convinced that the Lord would do all that He had promised. The other ten spies were frightened at the size of the Canaanites, their fortified cities and large armies. And so Israel complained against the Lord and despised Moses. Thus did the Lord condemn them to wander in the wilderness. An entire generation perished in the desert. Of the generation of men who came out of Egypt, only Joshua and Caleb were permitted to enter the Promised Land.
Here now they stand, at the bank of the Jordan River, ready to receive into their hand all that the Lord has promised to give. Fitting indeed. For the Law can only lead one so far. It can only lead the people of God to the Promised Land. It cannot take possession of it. That was the work of Yeshua.
For it shall not be in the power of their battalion or the strength of their sword that they shall conquer the heathen nations of Canaan. Rather it is through steadfastness to the Word of the Lord and the courage of faith in His promises. For His power is always displayed in weakness and His strength in humility. With instruction from the Lord, Joshua waged war with Jericho with trumpets rather than swords. He made the sun stand still at Gibeon!
City after city, territory after territory, Joshua gave to the children of Israel the land the Lord promised. At the end of the major conquests, he summoned Israel to himself at Shechem to renew the Lord’s covenant with Israel. Here he urged the people, called by God, to decide whom they would serve. The pagan gods of Canaan? Or the one, true God, Lord of heaven and earth? But as for me and my house, said Joshua, we will serve YHWH (Josh 24:15).
He died at the age of 110 and was buried in the hill country of Ephraim (Josh 24:29-30). Through him the Lord made provision for all of Israel. By His grace He provided for His children against all odds.
By His grace and according to His abundant mercy, the Lord has made provision for you too. He has clothed and fed you. He provides for all your needs, not only of body, but also of soul. For when you were dead in your trespasses and sins, faithless and an idolator, the Lord appointed your Yeshua, Jesus, Son of Mary, Son of God, to be your Redeemer and Champion.
He who instructed Joshua to be careful to do according to all the word that Moses My servant commanded; the Book of the Torah shall not depart from his mouth, but mediate on it day and night, is the very Word made flesh, the Torah Incarnate, who has come to give success to the Israel of His Church!
Thus does your Yeshua arrive at the banks of the Jordan. Not Himself to cross over but to be your faithful High Priest and the fulfillment of the Ark of the Covenant. He steps into the waters, receives the baptism of John in order to separate the waters for you, His Israel, so that you may walk in safety to the other side. In your baptism, does He ferries you with Himself from death to life, from wandering to being given a homeland in which He richly and daily provides all of your needs by and from His Word of forgiveness.
He trumpets His mercy and forgiveness against the walls of sin and the stronghold of the devil. He makes the sun to rise and shine upon you, and provides for you, even as you are taught to “give us this day our daily bread.” He welcomes you into His House wherein you are catechized and learn to serve the Lord.
Indeed, beloved, you walk among the pagan Canaanites of this world, in danger on the right and on the left. You sojourn in a land in which you already possess an inheritance of immeasurable value, but do not yet enjoy the fullness thereof. Rather you feel like pilgrims and strangers. Exiles and wanderers. It is easy to acquiesce. Appealing to give in. To succumb to the ways and means of the world, blend into the culture.
Yet you are commanded, Be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the Torah that Moses, the Lord’s servant, has taught. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left. That is, unmoved, stand on His sure Word.
Thus you shall not conquer by the might of your sword, but by the power of the Sword of the Spirit, the very Word of God, slicing and dicing to the heart of the sinner, laying them bare before the fury of His wrath. “God’s Word is all sufficient, it makes divinely sure; and trusting in its wisdom, your faith shall rest secure” (LSB 587:1).
You shall not be victorious through the puffed-up courage of your flesh, but in the repentant humility of sorrow over your sin. Only by dying and rising in the strength and courage of the Lord shall you posses the inheritance He has laid up for you.
For while you were imprisoned under the Law, held captive by the menacing clutches of sin and shame, your Yeshua defeated the armies of Satan and attacked his fortress to retrieve you. He allowed Himself to be beaten and killed, overcoming evil with good. He surrendered Himself to your death that you might live. He arose from the dead, your Savior and Head, and leads you over the Jordan of your baptism through this valley of the shadow of death, to His eternal Promised Land which He has given you; even as you now receive possession of it.
Beloved, He will not leave you. Your Yeshua, your Jesus, will not forsake you. The Lord your God, who put His Name upon you in Holy Baptism, is with you wherever you go. Do not be afraid. Do not be dismayed.
Be strong and courageous. Clothed in the armor of His might. Cling steadfastly to His Word. For He has brought you safely to His House, in which you serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness. Do as He has commanded you to do in the Law of Moses, which is His good and gracious will for your life. Do it not to receive a reward or earn an inheritance, but because it is the Word of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. For by His Word does He grant success. Not as the world gives does He give.
For the success and prosperity of the Lord comes always by way of His Cross, which He has laid upon you. He is faithful and true. He shall protect you from the false doctrine of those who surround you. Only do not turn from His Word. He shall spare your life from those who seek to take it by the sword. Only be strong and courageous, according to the will of He who is at work in you. For your Yeshua has conquered death by His death and distributes His kingdom to you by His grace and according to His mercy. Do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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