Exodus 4:1-18/St Mark 15:1-15
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
He was a murderer and a rebel; a traitor. And because he was a criminal, he was a coward. All criminals, all bullies, are. And yet our Lord used him.
I speak not of Barabbas, but of Moses. He had killed a man in anger and so he fled Egypt. Pharaoh sought his life, not only as a criminal, but as a traitor. Had he not been raised by Pharaoh’s daughter in his own household? He, an outsider, a Hebrew, was secretly weaned by his own mother while living in the king’s palace. He ate at Pharaoh’s table. He partook of Pharaoh’s hospitality. His murder of an Egyptian was not merely a crime, it was insurrection against the state; a personal attack against Pharaoh himself. Assaulting the king’s men is the same as an assault on the king himself.
And so, in fear, he fled. His actions mimic those of our first parents, Adam and Eve, who fled the presence of the Lord after their transgression. This is the natural tendency of fallen man - to cover over his sin, to run from it. It is no different for us. We attempt to hide our many transgressions; try to paper over them, but on a pleasant face all the while our insides are disfigured in agony, our consciences grieving us.
There is but one solution. Repent. This is the Lenten discipline, and the daily bread and butter of the Christian. We live by repentance and faith. Always fallen, always broken and deformed by sin, ever crying out to our Lord for mercy, who in love calls to us, Where are you?
And so the Lord God finds Moses. It is in mercy that YHWH, the I AM, speaks to Moses from within the burning bush. It is an absolution and an ordination. The Lord forgives Moses and calls him. He appoints Moses, the murdering coward, as His prophet and intercessor for Israel. Moses shall speak the Word of the Lord to His people’s captor, that tyrannical despot, Pharaoh. What St Paul wrote concerning the proclamation of the Cross is fitting also of Moses, Consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the strong (1 Cor 1:26-27).
So it always is for our Lord’s elect: despised and rejected by the world; scoffed at and ridiculed. For if they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household (Mt 10:25)? Do not expect, dear Christian, to live at peace with the world; for you are sons and daughters of your Father in heaven, who has called you to Himself. You as in the world, but you are not of the world.
Moses recognized his inadequacy. There is humility in that. Yet his belligerence bordered on unbelief. He is sent under the authority of the Lord. He will be with his mouth and with Aaron’s mouth; even as you are taught to pray, O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare Your praise. The Lord gave him signs - the staff, his leprous hand, the bloody water. Still Moses did not fear, love, and trust in God above all things. He feared Pharaoh. He loved his life. And he trusted in the distance between himself and Egypt; and the time that had passed.
Still our Lord would use him. Moses would be the mouth of the Lord to Pharaoh and the hands of the Lord to Israel. The Lord used Moses to release many from bondage to slavery and Pharaoh, to paraphrase the collect. Through Moses our Lord flexed His might against Egypt and against her pagan king. He would redeem them; for He is their God and they are His people. He has heard their cries.
Our texts for this evening from the lectio continua of the daily lectionary, provide a study in opposites. Consider: He who appears to Moses from within a burning bush and gives him powerful signs and mighty words, that he may stand before Pharaoh, has now been manifested in the frailty of our flesh and blood and stands before Pilate in silence.
The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has appeared to us. He has come to catch the Serpent; though not by its tail, but to crush its head.
He who gave Moses the sign of his leprous hand is the One who in the flesh healed leprosy and yet became leprous with our sin. He who turned the water of the Nile into blood, is the One who gave His side to the soldier’s spear, pouring out blood and water.
It is written in the Torah, the man Moses was very meek, above all the men on the face of the earth (Nu 12:3). But is the Man Jesus, the God of Moses in the flesh, who is the meekest of all. For He who need not be bound by chains was bound by men who sought His death. He who was the power of God refused to let that power bring Him rescue. He who had no fear of death became subject to death. He who had no vices wrapped Himself in ours so that He might free us from them. He who is the triumphant King suffered His own skin to be nailed to the stake as the trophy of His triumph over death. He who hunted down death allowed Himself to be devoured by it. He was pierced through so that we might be made whole. The wood upon which He was set adrift under the storming wrath of God He fashions into the ship of our salvation. It is our cross too, but it is not the cross of punishment for us; rather, He makes it the cross of salvation.
And we who might be bound to Him by force are bound rather by His love for us, and that binding is more powerful because it is His. The Lord might have forced Moses, but instead He bore with his weaknesses, providing for his concerns; giving him signs and Aaron, and His Name and Word.
So too, does our Lord bear with our weaknesses. He has given you the external signs of Holy Baptism and His Sacrament which create and nourish faith in Him. He has given you an Aaron - your pastor - who speaks His Word to you, setting you free from bondage to sin and the tyranny the devil. And here, He puts His Word, joined to bread and wine, His Body and Blood, into your mouth, in faith forgiving all of your sins, granting you life and salvation.
Beloved you are the Israel of His Church, set free by your Moses, our Lord Jesus Christ. He took your place, is your Substitute, and you go free, as Bar-abbas, which means, sons of the Father, and indeed you are!
As it is written, You were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires (Gal 5:13-14, 24).
You are bound to Christ by His passionate and bloody embrace, no longer fearing the bonds of death in your own life. Suffering cannot overwhelm us; neither can serving one another in love. For Christ suffered for us on the Tree and laid down His life in love. Fear cannot defeat us, for there is nothing to fear that can harm us. The cross is the instrument of His death and the source of our life! Come, let us turn our faces toward Jerusalem as Holy Week begins. Let us rejoice in our Lord’s great mercy and love for us! Come, blessed cross!
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
He was a murderer and a rebel; a traitor. And because he was a criminal, he was a coward. All criminals, all bullies, are. And yet our Lord used him.
I speak not of Barabbas, but of Moses. He had killed a man in anger and so he fled Egypt. Pharaoh sought his life, not only as a criminal, but as a traitor. Had he not been raised by Pharaoh’s daughter in his own household? He, an outsider, a Hebrew, was secretly weaned by his own mother while living in the king’s palace. He ate at Pharaoh’s table. He partook of Pharaoh’s hospitality. His murder of an Egyptian was not merely a crime, it was insurrection against the state; a personal attack against Pharaoh himself. Assaulting the king’s men is the same as an assault on the king himself.
And so, in fear, he fled. His actions mimic those of our first parents, Adam and Eve, who fled the presence of the Lord after their transgression. This is the natural tendency of fallen man - to cover over his sin, to run from it. It is no different for us. We attempt to hide our many transgressions; try to paper over them, but on a pleasant face all the while our insides are disfigured in agony, our consciences grieving us.
There is but one solution. Repent. This is the Lenten discipline, and the daily bread and butter of the Christian. We live by repentance and faith. Always fallen, always broken and deformed by sin, ever crying out to our Lord for mercy, who in love calls to us, Where are you?
And so the Lord God finds Moses. It is in mercy that YHWH, the I AM, speaks to Moses from within the burning bush. It is an absolution and an ordination. The Lord forgives Moses and calls him. He appoints Moses, the murdering coward, as His prophet and intercessor for Israel. Moses shall speak the Word of the Lord to His people’s captor, that tyrannical despot, Pharaoh. What St Paul wrote concerning the proclamation of the Cross is fitting also of Moses, Consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the strong (1 Cor 1:26-27).
So it always is for our Lord’s elect: despised and rejected by the world; scoffed at and ridiculed. For if they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household (Mt 10:25)? Do not expect, dear Christian, to live at peace with the world; for you are sons and daughters of your Father in heaven, who has called you to Himself. You as in the world, but you are not of the world.
Moses recognized his inadequacy. There is humility in that. Yet his belligerence bordered on unbelief. He is sent under the authority of the Lord. He will be with his mouth and with Aaron’s mouth; even as you are taught to pray, O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare Your praise. The Lord gave him signs - the staff, his leprous hand, the bloody water. Still Moses did not fear, love, and trust in God above all things. He feared Pharaoh. He loved his life. And he trusted in the distance between himself and Egypt; and the time that had passed.
Still our Lord would use him. Moses would be the mouth of the Lord to Pharaoh and the hands of the Lord to Israel. The Lord used Moses to release many from bondage to slavery and Pharaoh, to paraphrase the collect. Through Moses our Lord flexed His might against Egypt and against her pagan king. He would redeem them; for He is their God and they are His people. He has heard their cries.
Our texts for this evening from the lectio continua of the daily lectionary, provide a study in opposites. Consider: He who appears to Moses from within a burning bush and gives him powerful signs and mighty words, that he may stand before Pharaoh, has now been manifested in the frailty of our flesh and blood and stands before Pilate in silence.
The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has appeared to us. He has come to catch the Serpent; though not by its tail, but to crush its head.
He who gave Moses the sign of his leprous hand is the One who in the flesh healed leprosy and yet became leprous with our sin. He who turned the water of the Nile into blood, is the One who gave His side to the soldier’s spear, pouring out blood and water.
It is written in the Torah, the man Moses was very meek, above all the men on the face of the earth (Nu 12:3). But is the Man Jesus, the God of Moses in the flesh, who is the meekest of all. For He who need not be bound by chains was bound by men who sought His death. He who was the power of God refused to let that power bring Him rescue. He who had no fear of death became subject to death. He who had no vices wrapped Himself in ours so that He might free us from them. He who is the triumphant King suffered His own skin to be nailed to the stake as the trophy of His triumph over death. He who hunted down death allowed Himself to be devoured by it. He was pierced through so that we might be made whole. The wood upon which He was set adrift under the storming wrath of God He fashions into the ship of our salvation. It is our cross too, but it is not the cross of punishment for us; rather, He makes it the cross of salvation.
And we who might be bound to Him by force are bound rather by His love for us, and that binding is more powerful because it is His. The Lord might have forced Moses, but instead He bore with his weaknesses, providing for his concerns; giving him signs and Aaron, and His Name and Word.
So too, does our Lord bear with our weaknesses. He has given you the external signs of Holy Baptism and His Sacrament which create and nourish faith in Him. He has given you an Aaron - your pastor - who speaks His Word to you, setting you free from bondage to sin and the tyranny the devil. And here, He puts His Word, joined to bread and wine, His Body and Blood, into your mouth, in faith forgiving all of your sins, granting you life and salvation.
Beloved you are the Israel of His Church, set free by your Moses, our Lord Jesus Christ. He took your place, is your Substitute, and you go free, as Bar-abbas, which means, sons of the Father, and indeed you are!
As it is written, You were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires (Gal 5:13-14, 24).
You are bound to Christ by His passionate and bloody embrace, no longer fearing the bonds of death in your own life. Suffering cannot overwhelm us; neither can serving one another in love. For Christ suffered for us on the Tree and laid down His life in love. Fear cannot defeat us, for there is nothing to fear that can harm us. The cross is the instrument of His death and the source of our life! Come, let us turn our faces toward Jerusalem as Holy Week begins. Let us rejoice in our Lord’s great mercy and love for us! Come, blessed cross!
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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