Isaiah 65:17-25/1 Thessalonians 5:1-11/St Matthew 25:1-13
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
The Bridegroom soon shall call us, “Come to the wedding feast” (LSB 514:1). He will come again with glory to judge both the living and dead. You know neither the day nor the hour. Watch, therefore; be alert and pray.
For this is what the Kingdom of heaven is like and it is to this that you have been called: To watch and to wait for the Bridegroom and then to enter with Him into the wedding feast.
With what wisdom, then, shall you be prepared and ready to meet Him? It comes down to this, whether you have oil for your lamp or not.
You do not know how long the wait will be. But concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. Be prepared, therefore, both night and day, both awake and asleep.
You will grow drowsy and sleep, to be sure, not unlike the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane whose spirit is willing, but whose flesh is weak. All the virgins succumb to sleep, both the wise and the foolish alike. And for you as well, you will fall into bouts of sleepiness, into the darkness of sin and shame, from these the cry of the Word seeks to awaken you and call you back. Indeed you shall struggle your whole life-long with drowsiness, a willing spirit to stay awake, but a weak flesh, falling asleep. And then finally your mortal flesh will perish and you will be laid to your final rest in the dust of the earth.
But there is a great difference dear ones between falling asleep in Jesus, at peace and at rest in Him by faith in His Gospel, and falling asleep in foolish unbelief, in the drowsiness of despair and the stupor of sin.
And the difference is, once again, the Oil for your lamp. What then is the Oil? It is the anointing of Christ Jesus, the outpouring of His Holy Spirit in His Word. With that Oil you are prepared and enter in to the wedding hall. Without it, you are left out in the dark. No harsher words are spoken by our Lord Christ in all the Gospel that these: Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.
Recall that Christ Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit at His Baptism in the Jordan River; anointed for His Cross and for the Resurrection; anointed on your behalf for the sake of the work of your salvation. Driven by the same Holy Spirit then, from the baptismal waters into the wilderness, He met and resisted the devil’s temptations for you. He is your Substitute, your great Champion and Savior.
So too when His Baptism brought Him to its purpose and finish in His Passion and death, He was ready, watching and waiting in prayer. Alert. Prepared to commend Himself to His Father.
Now His Baptism, His Cross and Resurrection have become yours in your Holy Baptism. There He has poured out His Holy Spirit generously upon you, anointing you warrior priests, as St Paul says to the Thessalonians; you are dressed with the breastplate of faith and love and for a helmet the hope of salvation. With the Oil of gladness of your Holy Baptism your lamp is fueled and burns brightly. You are made ready, dear children of the day, because you are in Christ who is your Light. His readiness is yours.
So does your light shine before your neighbors in the world, who see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. In fact, your light is a reflection of His own because His Word is Lamp unto your feet and a Light upon your path.
It is by His Word of the Law that His Spirit guides you in the way that you should go, according to His will, in the way of justice and righteousness, in the way of peace and love. Encourage one another along this way, build one another up within the vocations in which Christ has placed you, just as you are doing. And be prepared and take care, having Oil for your lamps.
For it is by His Word of the Gospel, specifically His spoken Word of the Holy Absolution - by the free and full forgiveness of all your sins in His Name - that the Lord Jesus breathes His life-giving Holy Spirit into you. He, your heavenly Bridegroom, here in His Absolution speaks to you with tender Word and sweet voice, giving His Spirit into your ears and heart and whole body and life, thereby He fills up your lamp with the Oil of gladness.
So get yourself to the dealers, that is, to the stewards of the Mysteries of God, to the ministers of the Word and Sacraments of Christ, to be replenished and prepared by the Oil of His grace, mercy, and peace. Continue to listen to the voice of the Gospel which is the living voice of Jesus, your Bridegroom, who is calling you to Himself and to His feast. Even as He is delayed, continue in steadfastness to receive the gifts He freely gives to you.
For He has already come down from the Father in heaven to seek you out, to woo you to Himself in love by the call of His Gospel, to make you a member of His holy Bride by grace, and to prepare you for the Wedding Feast by His perfect righteousness and holiness. It is for this very reason that He went to His Cross, for this reason God the Father raised Him from the dead: That He should cleanse you by the washing of water with His Word, and clothe you in the splendor of His righteousness for the forgiveness of your sins and that you, are thus adorned as a beautiful Bride for your heaven;y Bridegroom.
By the will of His Father and by the Holy Spirit, He was ready and waiting when His Day and Hour came. And by His readiness He has made all things ready for you and your salvation. He submitted Himself to the somber sleep of death in order to raise you up from death, which is bu a sleep, to life in Him.
For it is from His riven side, from the fruitful Tree of His Sacrifice, that His own dear Eve, His holy Bride, His beloved Church, has been taken and fashioned for Him. And it is from His riven side, not only in death, but now also in His resurrection, that He pours out for you the Water, Blood, and Spirit through the ministry of His Gospel. Behold a new heavens and a new earth; be glad and rejoice forever in that which He creates. For He rejoices in you, His Jerusalem, His beloved Bride, adorned from above with His own majesty and splendor and holiness.
Beloved in the Lord, here He anoints you with His Oil - the very gifts of your crucified and risen Christ - the forgiveness of all your sins. Here your Bridegroom calls to you in tender voice with the preaching of His Gospel and bids you come up to meet Him. All things are made ready: His house, His table, His supper. He is here for you, in this great Wedding Feast of the Lamb in His kingdom. For from His Altar the Bridegroom of the Church in heaven and on earth, feeds you with the spiritual Food and Drink, His true Body and Blood, that you might be filled with Him, live in Him and He in you, now and forever.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
The Bridegroom soon shall call us, “Come to the wedding feast” (LSB 514:1). He will come again with glory to judge both the living and dead. You know neither the day nor the hour. Watch, therefore; be alert and pray.
For this is what the Kingdom of heaven is like and it is to this that you have been called: To watch and to wait for the Bridegroom and then to enter with Him into the wedding feast.
With what wisdom, then, shall you be prepared and ready to meet Him? It comes down to this, whether you have oil for your lamp or not.
You do not know how long the wait will be. But concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves are fully aware that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. Be prepared, therefore, both night and day, both awake and asleep.
You will grow drowsy and sleep, to be sure, not unlike the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane whose spirit is willing, but whose flesh is weak. All the virgins succumb to sleep, both the wise and the foolish alike. And for you as well, you will fall into bouts of sleepiness, into the darkness of sin and shame, from these the cry of the Word seeks to awaken you and call you back. Indeed you shall struggle your whole life-long with drowsiness, a willing spirit to stay awake, but a weak flesh, falling asleep. And then finally your mortal flesh will perish and you will be laid to your final rest in the dust of the earth.
But there is a great difference dear ones between falling asleep in Jesus, at peace and at rest in Him by faith in His Gospel, and falling asleep in foolish unbelief, in the drowsiness of despair and the stupor of sin.
And the difference is, once again, the Oil for your lamp. What then is the Oil? It is the anointing of Christ Jesus, the outpouring of His Holy Spirit in His Word. With that Oil you are prepared and enter in to the wedding hall. Without it, you are left out in the dark. No harsher words are spoken by our Lord Christ in all the Gospel that these: Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.
Recall that Christ Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit at His Baptism in the Jordan River; anointed for His Cross and for the Resurrection; anointed on your behalf for the sake of the work of your salvation. Driven by the same Holy Spirit then, from the baptismal waters into the wilderness, He met and resisted the devil’s temptations for you. He is your Substitute, your great Champion and Savior.
So too when His Baptism brought Him to its purpose and finish in His Passion and death, He was ready, watching and waiting in prayer. Alert. Prepared to commend Himself to His Father.
Now His Baptism, His Cross and Resurrection have become yours in your Holy Baptism. There He has poured out His Holy Spirit generously upon you, anointing you warrior priests, as St Paul says to the Thessalonians; you are dressed with the breastplate of faith and love and for a helmet the hope of salvation. With the Oil of gladness of your Holy Baptism your lamp is fueled and burns brightly. You are made ready, dear children of the day, because you are in Christ who is your Light. His readiness is yours.
So does your light shine before your neighbors in the world, who see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. In fact, your light is a reflection of His own because His Word is Lamp unto your feet and a Light upon your path.
It is by His Word of the Law that His Spirit guides you in the way that you should go, according to His will, in the way of justice and righteousness, in the way of peace and love. Encourage one another along this way, build one another up within the vocations in which Christ has placed you, just as you are doing. And be prepared and take care, having Oil for your lamps.
For it is by His Word of the Gospel, specifically His spoken Word of the Holy Absolution - by the free and full forgiveness of all your sins in His Name - that the Lord Jesus breathes His life-giving Holy Spirit into you. He, your heavenly Bridegroom, here in His Absolution speaks to you with tender Word and sweet voice, giving His Spirit into your ears and heart and whole body and life, thereby He fills up your lamp with the Oil of gladness.
So get yourself to the dealers, that is, to the stewards of the Mysteries of God, to the ministers of the Word and Sacraments of Christ, to be replenished and prepared by the Oil of His grace, mercy, and peace. Continue to listen to the voice of the Gospel which is the living voice of Jesus, your Bridegroom, who is calling you to Himself and to His feast. Even as He is delayed, continue in steadfastness to receive the gifts He freely gives to you.
For He has already come down from the Father in heaven to seek you out, to woo you to Himself in love by the call of His Gospel, to make you a member of His holy Bride by grace, and to prepare you for the Wedding Feast by His perfect righteousness and holiness. It is for this very reason that He went to His Cross, for this reason God the Father raised Him from the dead: That He should cleanse you by the washing of water with His Word, and clothe you in the splendor of His righteousness for the forgiveness of your sins and that you, are thus adorned as a beautiful Bride for your heaven;y Bridegroom.
By the will of His Father and by the Holy Spirit, He was ready and waiting when His Day and Hour came. And by His readiness He has made all things ready for you and your salvation. He submitted Himself to the somber sleep of death in order to raise you up from death, which is bu a sleep, to life in Him.
For it is from His riven side, from the fruitful Tree of His Sacrifice, that His own dear Eve, His holy Bride, His beloved Church, has been taken and fashioned for Him. And it is from His riven side, not only in death, but now also in His resurrection, that He pours out for you the Water, Blood, and Spirit through the ministry of His Gospel. Behold a new heavens and a new earth; be glad and rejoice forever in that which He creates. For He rejoices in you, His Jerusalem, His beloved Bride, adorned from above with His own majesty and splendor and holiness.
Beloved in the Lord, here He anoints you with His Oil - the very gifts of your crucified and risen Christ - the forgiveness of all your sins. Here your Bridegroom calls to you in tender voice with the preaching of His Gospel and bids you come up to meet Him. All things are made ready: His house, His table, His supper. He is here for you, in this great Wedding Feast of the Lamb in His kingdom. For from His Altar the Bridegroom of the Church in heaven and on earth, feeds you with the spiritual Food and Drink, His true Body and Blood, that you might be filled with Him, live in Him and He in you, now and forever.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
RSS Feed