Isaiah 32:14-20/Acts 8:14-17/St John 10:1-10
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
As the Father had sent Him, so the crucified and risen Christ sent His disciples. He breathed upon them His Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, thus commissioning them His αποστολοι, His “sent ones;” going to all nations, discipling in His stead and by His command. Beginning in Jerusalem and Judea, now Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, they aspirated His Word through the preaching of repentance and the forgiveness of sins.
“The sower sows His reckless love, scatters abroad the goodly seed, intent alone that all may have the wholesome loves that all men need” (LSB 586:3). Thus does the Word of God come to the wilderness of Samaria, through the evangelical proclamation of St Phillip the Deacon. Having been given ears to hear, the implanted Word is received with meekness and joy, producing, by His grace and Spirit, a fruitful harvest. In this way the Suffering Servant of Isaiah continues to fulfill the prophet’s preaching: the Good Shepherd, who laid down His life for the sheep, deigns to consecrate some of His sheep under-shepherds.
These men, called to fill His Holy Office of the Gospel, as tasked with feeding His dear lambs and tending His dear sheep, even as He feeds His own through those whom He sent. For you have but One Shepherd, even Jesus Christ. He has laid down His life for you. And He has taken it up again. Through the door of His death and resurrection all true under-shepherds must enter. He who climbs in by another way, who brings a false and misleading gospel, that man is a thief and a robber. He is a stranger. Flee his voice. Do not listen to his false doctrine.
Rather, heed the voice of your Good Shepherd, who calls to you by way of His Word of the Cross and Passion, through His death and resurrection. You, His dear sheep, follow after Him, denying yourself and taking up your cross. Even as Israel went out of slavery through the door stained with the blood of the lamb, so do you, the people of His pasture, the sheep of His hand, exit the slavery of sin and death through the door of His Cross, stained with the Blood of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
He has brought you through the sea of Holy Baptism, drowning your old Adam, giving safe passage to the shores of the true Promised Land, His holy Church. He feeds you on the Manna of His Body and gives you to abide in this secure dwelling in quietness and trust. For He is your quiet resting place. He is your true Sabbath, who freely bestows His righteousness and peace in the pasture of His Church. And He has other sheep that are not of this fold, He must bring them also, for there is but one flock and one Shepherd.
Thus do the apostles at Jerusalem rejoice them they heard that Samaria has received the Word of God. For angels, together with the Church rejoice over the repentance and faith of one sinner. For these are gifts of Christ wrought by His Holy Spirit, who according to His wisdom and mercy, falls on those who hear the Word and works justifying faith where and when it pleases God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
For it was the good pleasure of the Blessed Holy Trinity to bestow the Holy Spirit once through the prayer and hands of those who heard, who saw with their eyes, who looked upon and touched with their hands the very Word of Life manifest in the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ. And that which they saw and heard they also proclaimed in order that you may have fellowship with them. Indeed your fellowship is with the blessed Apostles, Peter and John, in God the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ, through His Holy Spirit (1 Jn 1:1-4).
So too, beloved, is it according to the Father’s good and gracious will to save you, not on account of your own works done by you in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on you richly through Jesus Christ your Savior, so that being justified by His grace you might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:4-7).
Moreover, it is in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit through Word and water in Holy Baptism, the Christ the Door gives you entrance into the abundant life of the Blessed Holy Trinity - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. For He who provides you with daily bread, with all that is needed to support this body and life, likewise bestows upon you the free gifts of His good Spirit and all that is needed for the life to come.
As those in Samaria who received the Word of God were brought into fellowship with the blessed Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ as signaled through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the laying on of hands, so have you been brought into the fellowship of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church built on the foundation of the doctrine of the prophets and apostles, Jesus Christ Himself the Chief Stone through the gift of the Holy Spirit bestowed through Holy Baptism in stead and by the command of the Lord Jesus.
In this Christian Church, the Holy Spirit daily and reaches forgives all your sins and the sins of all believers. Through the Word of the Cross, that is, the living Voice of your Good Shepherd, He teaches you to know Jesus Christ aright, that you may abide in Him and He in you, and that loving Him, He and the Father together may come and make their home with you; that is, until you are united to the Blessed Holy Trinity in your true home for eternity.
Beloved, the fellowship of Christ and His Holy Church is distributed here in the eating and drinking of the Bread and Wine, His Body and Blood, given and shed for you. By this, God the Holy Spirit delivers to you the crucified and risen Life of our Lord Jesus Christ; His abundant Life. A Life that removes the power of sin and the accusation of the Law. A Life that conquers death. A Life that knows no end, for it is the Life of the Blessed Holy Trinity Himself; the Life of the Son come from the Father who pours out His Spirit on you from high.
And truly, on the Last Day, the Holy Spirit will raise you and all the dead, and give eternal life to you and all believers in Christ. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
As the Father had sent Him, so the crucified and risen Christ sent His disciples. He breathed upon them His Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, thus commissioning them His αποστολοι, His “sent ones;” going to all nations, discipling in His stead and by His command. Beginning in Jerusalem and Judea, now Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, they aspirated His Word through the preaching of repentance and the forgiveness of sins.
“The sower sows His reckless love, scatters abroad the goodly seed, intent alone that all may have the wholesome loves that all men need” (LSB 586:3). Thus does the Word of God come to the wilderness of Samaria, through the evangelical proclamation of St Phillip the Deacon. Having been given ears to hear, the implanted Word is received with meekness and joy, producing, by His grace and Spirit, a fruitful harvest. In this way the Suffering Servant of Isaiah continues to fulfill the prophet’s preaching: the Good Shepherd, who laid down His life for the sheep, deigns to consecrate some of His sheep under-shepherds.
These men, called to fill His Holy Office of the Gospel, as tasked with feeding His dear lambs and tending His dear sheep, even as He feeds His own through those whom He sent. For you have but One Shepherd, even Jesus Christ. He has laid down His life for you. And He has taken it up again. Through the door of His death and resurrection all true under-shepherds must enter. He who climbs in by another way, who brings a false and misleading gospel, that man is a thief and a robber. He is a stranger. Flee his voice. Do not listen to his false doctrine.
Rather, heed the voice of your Good Shepherd, who calls to you by way of His Word of the Cross and Passion, through His death and resurrection. You, His dear sheep, follow after Him, denying yourself and taking up your cross. Even as Israel went out of slavery through the door stained with the blood of the lamb, so do you, the people of His pasture, the sheep of His hand, exit the slavery of sin and death through the door of His Cross, stained with the Blood of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
He has brought you through the sea of Holy Baptism, drowning your old Adam, giving safe passage to the shores of the true Promised Land, His holy Church. He feeds you on the Manna of His Body and gives you to abide in this secure dwelling in quietness and trust. For He is your quiet resting place. He is your true Sabbath, who freely bestows His righteousness and peace in the pasture of His Church. And He has other sheep that are not of this fold, He must bring them also, for there is but one flock and one Shepherd.
Thus do the apostles at Jerusalem rejoice them they heard that Samaria has received the Word of God. For angels, together with the Church rejoice over the repentance and faith of one sinner. For these are gifts of Christ wrought by His Holy Spirit, who according to His wisdom and mercy, falls on those who hear the Word and works justifying faith where and when it pleases God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
For it was the good pleasure of the Blessed Holy Trinity to bestow the Holy Spirit once through the prayer and hands of those who heard, who saw with their eyes, who looked upon and touched with their hands the very Word of Life manifest in the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ. And that which they saw and heard they also proclaimed in order that you may have fellowship with them. Indeed your fellowship is with the blessed Apostles, Peter and John, in God the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ, through His Holy Spirit (1 Jn 1:1-4).
So too, beloved, is it according to the Father’s good and gracious will to save you, not on account of your own works done by you in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on you richly through Jesus Christ your Savior, so that being justified by His grace you might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:4-7).
Moreover, it is in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit through Word and water in Holy Baptism, the Christ the Door gives you entrance into the abundant life of the Blessed Holy Trinity - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. For He who provides you with daily bread, with all that is needed to support this body and life, likewise bestows upon you the free gifts of His good Spirit and all that is needed for the life to come.
As those in Samaria who received the Word of God were brought into fellowship with the blessed Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ as signaled through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the laying on of hands, so have you been brought into the fellowship of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church built on the foundation of the doctrine of the prophets and apostles, Jesus Christ Himself the Chief Stone through the gift of the Holy Spirit bestowed through Holy Baptism in stead and by the command of the Lord Jesus.
In this Christian Church, the Holy Spirit daily and reaches forgives all your sins and the sins of all believers. Through the Word of the Cross, that is, the living Voice of your Good Shepherd, He teaches you to know Jesus Christ aright, that you may abide in Him and He in you, and that loving Him, He and the Father together may come and make their home with you; that is, until you are united to the Blessed Holy Trinity in your true home for eternity.
Beloved, the fellowship of Christ and His Holy Church is distributed here in the eating and drinking of the Bread and Wine, His Body and Blood, given and shed for you. By this, God the Holy Spirit delivers to you the crucified and risen Life of our Lord Jesus Christ; His abundant Life. A Life that removes the power of sin and the accusation of the Law. A Life that conquers death. A Life that knows no end, for it is the Life of the Blessed Holy Trinity Himself; the Life of the Son come from the Father who pours out His Spirit on you from high.
And truly, on the Last Day, the Holy Spirit will raise you and all the dead, and give eternal life to you and all believers in Christ. Amen.
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