Trinity 2 2023
Luke 14:15-24 
Rev Douglas D. Irmer, Emeritus

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 
Dearly beloved,
The grace of God is on full display. There is nothing in this reading that points to our obedience. “Come to the banquet, for now all is ready.” And, in fact, the grace of God is so overwhelming it is even in the mouth of one of those who sat at table with him: “blessed is he who will eat bread in the kingdom of God.” At least one scholar refers to this as a Lukan beatitude. The gospel of God’s grace is a flood that can’t be staunched, even by our unwillingness or refusal of that grace. 

We have seen these people before, the ones who receive the invitation from the man and refuse it for various reasons. They are us, of course. God’s gracious invitation comes to us and Almighty God, in His mercy and wisdom has given us more than we either deserve or would ask for. God blesses us with worldly blessings which we then begin to ascribe to our own initiative or hard work or insightfulness or our own appeal. 

We see them here as we saw them in the Old Testament, these excuses, reasons to get out of an obligation. Where did the means come for us to purchase our earthly possessions? Do we have a house, land or a bank account with a nice balance? What role do such considerations play in our lives and our activities? Are we supposed to give up these things? Are we scolded for having these things? 

One man refuses to attend God’s gracious banquet because he has just purchased a field and I think of him like the man in the Old Testament who is excused from battle because he has a new field and hasn’t yet had time to reap its harvest and enjoy its fruits. But where did this man get his field? Where did he get the means to acquire that land? Here this man is using an excuse about war to excuse himself from receiving God’s grace. Yet it seems that he has put the grace of God in one instance, the field, in opposition to the grace of God in the banquet. 

We pray, “give us this day our daily bread.” What is meant by daily bread, “Daily bread includes everything that has to do with the support and needs of the body,” including clothing and shoes, house and home and land. 

God in His great grace and mercy gives us these things yet we so easily look on them as accomplishments of our own hard work and determination to the exclusion of the invitation to the banquet. 

We may think that at least God’s Word doesn’t join us with the man who has just bought five yoke of oxen. It’s been a long time since I bought oxen. In fact, I’m pretty sure I have never bought oxen. It’s a wonderful thing about the holy Law of God that it searches us out and condemns us when we least expect. Did I say that’s a wonderful thing? I certainly did. God’s Law is strong and almighty and we can’t do anything to avoid being condemned by it. I suppose that the oxen are the man’s actual livelihood. Can you imagine anyone being so slow to understand or so ignorant enough to choose work over the grace of God? “I can’t get to church today because I have work to do. These last years very probably include work that was formerly done at a place of business, but is now done at home. 

Once again we lose sight of the fact that it is God who gives us work to do. It is God who determines that we are able to work and gives us all that we need to support this body and life. Part of what we need in order to support our body and life is our health and the strength of our body and our mind. Once again we tend to argue against one aspect of God’s grace to overcome the gracious invitation to His banquet. 

This we see also in the man who claims marriage as an ample excuse to ignore God’s gracious invitation and neglect the heavenly gifts He gives us in this life. How many couples tragically desert their Christian lives because one or the other partner in the marriage has no taste for the grace offered by God in His banquet. 

You know that we can’t possibly discuss a banquet given by Almighty God in Holy Scripture and not discuss the heavenly banquet spread before us here. It is truly the heavenly banquet here on earth. In fact in St. Matthew’s gospel, this banquet with the invited guests who don’t come is referred to as a wedding feast. 

Yet those guests who were invited would not come. It can be inconvenient, can’t it? Not many of us here live close to St. Peter’s, some of us drive long distances and long periods of time. And why do we come here? For a small piece of bread and a little sip of wine? Do we come so our friends, neighbors and coworkers will see and know how pious and Godly we are. Do we come for fine entertainment and social engagement? 

Once again it is the grace of God that invites and compels us to come. We don’t come to this church or any church anywhere for any earthly purpose or reward. We aren’t here because we will get better marks in God’s gradebook. We aren’t here to fill our stomach or even to gratify our psyche. God in His mercy has called us. He has summoned us. He has invited us. 

In our baptism God calls us. He calls us by name and we are His. Jeremiah writes, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.” That is the call and invitation we have received. In Holy Baptism the pastor put water on our heads, but not just plain water, but the Word of God in and with the water. In baptism you are given God’s name: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is how we know God, because He has revealed His name to us and given us this holy and sacred act in which we are made one with Him. 
In our baptism we are united with Christ in His death, as St. Paul writes in Romans 6, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” We were raised with Christ so that we might walk in newness of life with Him. 

Holy baptism is death. It is death to our excuses. It is also death to us. We die in our baptism. Our old Adam drowns and dies in our baptism. Not just one time or one day. Our death to our old Adam isn’t just on our baptism day. Notice that it is our old Adam to whom we die. It’s not someone else’s fault. It’s not possession by some wicked and evil spirit. It is certainly that, but it is also our responsibility. It is our old Adam who is drowned and dies. My computer kept trying to auto correct that last sentence to, “was drowned and died.” But it happens every day. This struggle is ongoing, as we confess. 

And since God has called us in our baptism, since He made us a new creation and gives us new life in Christ, He calls us to His banquet. Lest we think God called us because we are so deserving, St. Paul writes, “not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.” Now, in our baptism we are wise in Christ Jesus. 
God calls us to this banquet, Himself. In this banquet of Holy Communion, the Lord Jesus Christ graciously gives us Himself, His body and blood together with the bread and wine. Here our sins are forgiven. Here we are restored to life. This is the gracious banquet that God the Father offers in this parable. He invites us, not to bring something, not to try to appease His wrath. The Lord Jesus Christ appeased the wrath of God the Father when He suffered and died on the cross. There is no longer any need for God to be angry and wrathful with you. We know that this sacrifice is full and complete. After thus suffering and dying on the cross, the Lord Jesus arose again from the dead. Not only does He bring you with Him from the dead, but His sacrificial death has satisfied the wrath of God the Father. 

Lest we get carried away with how wonderful we are in Christ, look again at the end of this parable. “[The Master] said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’”

Look again at those who are called and those who are compelled to attend the feast: the lame, the poor, the blind and the crippled. Those who were inhabitants of the highways and hedges; those who were unloveable that no one else wanted, these are the ones admitted to this man’s feast. 
There is a teaching, a doctrine called election. It can make us uncomfortable because like all other doctrines it can be misused and mis-taught. But here it is, as clear and simple as I can make it. We are saved because God has elected us to salvation. Jesus promises, “And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.” 

This is an important teaching in light of this Gospel, because it means that there are indeed those whom God has elected, those whom God has called to eternal salvation. 

Are you feeling ugly and unlovable? Do you feel unimportant and neglected, wondering whether God’s love still extends to you? This is where the Master compels those in these circumstances to come to His feast and this is where you must remember that God, Himself, has called you to His banquet. Trusting in Jesus Christ for your forgiveness and salvation, you are who God has called to His heavenly banquet. 

Blessed is he who will eat bread in the kingdom of God.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 

Genesis 15:1-6; 1 John 4:16-21; St Luke 16:19-31
LSB 768, 708, 760, 618, 544, 585

Isaiah 6:1-7; Pslam 29; Romans 11:23-36; St John 3:1-17
LSB 960, 498, 571, 604, 954, 580

Ezekiel 36:22-28; Psalm 51:1-12; 1 Peter 4:7-14; St John 15:26-16:4
LSB 492, 539, 728, 713, 502, 941
Holy Baptism of Khue Minh

2 Kings 2:15-15; Psalm 110; Acts 1:1-11; St Luke 24:44-53
LSB 492, 491, 821, 682, 830, 493

Rogate (14 May 2023)
​Numbers 6:4-9; James 1:22-27; St John 16:23-33
​LSB 942, 766, 555, 773, 724, 668

+INJ+ 

Beloved in Christ, the day will come when we will ask for nothing. We will ask for nothing because we shall lack nothing.

But not now. Now we lack. We ask Our Father for all the things that we desire. Some of it is needed. Some of it would be harmful if God gave it. And some of it is nothing more than luxury. It is hard for us to know what is good or useful. But we know Him whom we ask. We trust His promise. He will sort it out. He will give what is meet, right and salutary.

Our lack is not unjust, nor is our suffering unreasonable or unexpected. We do not ask because we deserve of ourselves. We ask because He commands and promises. We ask, beseech, and plead God the Father in Name of Jesus Christ our Brother to give us what is good. This goodness is more than bare necessity. We do not ask only for what we need nor do we ask only for spiritual good. In the confidence that God loves us and hears us and wants to make our joy full, we ask for whatever we desire that is not forbidden. We ask for physical things, for pleasurable things, for small and large things, trusting that He will do what is good and that our joy is and will be full.

We call to the Father by the Name of the Son because the Holy Spirit has given us this Name in Holy Baptism and granted us access. The Holy Spirit didn’t lay some ambiguous burden upon your heart, a riddle that you have to solve to prove your worth or sincerity. He baptized you. 

This was not your doing. He called you by the Gospel. This Gospel was the words “In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” It was and is external, outside of you. It was not an inward action unseen by human eyes. Your baptism was and is an objective historical reality. It took place in the real, physical world with flesh and blood witnesses. It isn’t a question of how you feel about it or whether you meant it or not or even whether or not you understand it. The question is “Did it happen or not?” and if it did then “Is God’s Word trustworthy or not? Will He do what He says?”

To be sure, a person can deny Baptism and reject it. He can insist on his own name and sins and therefore blaspheme and fall away from the faith. But that doesn’t mean Baptism didn’t happen or that God didn’t do what He promised. It only means that God does not force Himself upon anyone.

God has bound Himself and His Name to the waters of Holy Baptism by His promise. It is not a ceremony of the Church. It is a gift of God that He instituted for the salvation of the world. He puts His Name upon His children there. If His Name is upon you then you belong to Him. If you belong to Him and His Name is upon you then He takes responsibility for your sins and debts. He cannot be at war with Himself or His Name. 

Thus His Name, your Baptism, is a shield against the devil’s accusations and your own guilt and tribulations. And His Name gives you access by prayer. You call upon Him as a dear child calling on his dear Father.

All this this is because Christ our Lord has come from the Father to us. He, who was lifted up from the earth and returned to the Father as our envoy and Ambassador, comes to us in His risen Body and Blood. In the peace which is bestowed by the Absolution. And He speaks to us in His Word. He does not deal in ambiguities. There is no reason to think that He hints and prods and places riddles before us. The Lord does not struggle to communicate. He does not try and fail. He speaks in His Word and He comes with His grace where He promises. We receive what He gives and listen to what He says and we respond in prayer, praise, and thanksgiving.

For all that we still lack good things. We suffer evil. We have tribulation. God loves us as a Father. Not as a boy trying to impress us and potentially use us. He doesn’t pamper or coddle us or attempt to buy our affection. He respects us. He calls us “friend” and “child.” He gives us a part in His Kingdom. Even making us His ambassadors to the world as we are molded into His image by crosses and even deprivation.

The fullness of our joy is not emptied by suffering or by sorrow, nor by dying or death. Christ’s joy was full when He looked over Jerusalem and wept for her. His joy was full when He was betrayed by Judas whom He loved. His joy was full even when He cried out in anguish on the Cross at His Father’s forsaking of Him. His joy was full because He and the Father are one. The Christ was at peace, trusting in the goodness of His Father’s will, waiting for the revelation and vindication that He knew would come on Easter. Christ, our Lord, had tribulations in this world. And He prayed. So do you. You have cross and tribulation. And you are given to pray. To ask. 

Do not think that the joy He promises is simply pleasure or some shallow happiness. The Gospel is not an opioid meant to give you euphoria, make you forget the past, or even take away all your pain. The Gospel bestows a place in the Kingdom and family. The day will come when you will ask for nothing. 

But not now. Even then, you won’t forget your past or be in some mindless state of bliss. Rather you will be one with the Father, perfect in your trust, without doubt or corruption, without guilt or shame. Your joy will be full and your love will be pure. It will be agape and phileo. Not ecstasy.

Neither the holy angels nor the saints in St. John’s vision are portrayed in Holy Scripture as though they are in a state of euphoria. Rather they appear as an organized and disciplined choir whose voices are joined together in peace and harmony. They are working toward a common and joyful goal. They are free of angst and worry, anger and pride. They are content. At peace. They are happy to be in the presence of God and with their brothers and sisters singing God’s praise and shepherding His creation.

So even though you have tribulations and sorrow and need, even though you have committed sins and continue to struggle against them, you have access to the Father in the Name of Christ and therein is your joy. You are holy and righteous as Christ is holy and righteous. 

And in this sense, prayer is your right and inheritance. His Name gives it to you. It isn’t a right based upon your worthiness, but it is the right of children which has been bestowed by God’s adoption of you and His decree. You can and must pray because you are baptized. He must and will hear and answer you because He has bound Himself to do so by His Word. Thus, in your joy, you ask Him for all things that you lack and desire. You are bold because He is good and you know that He is trustworthy.

The world holds our prayers in derision. They ask: “What good are you prayers? The world is still full of evil and the wicked seem to conquer.” We respond: “God works all things together for good for those who love Him. What wicked men mean for evil, such as the slavery and imprisonment of Joseph and the death of Jesus, God uses for good. We live by faith and not by sight. We are the children of God and His Name is upon us. If that brings us dishonor in the world, so be it. We will not shrink from it. We are in His Father and He in us. We are unashamed of Him even as He is unashamed of us.”

The day will come, however, when we will ask Him for nothing and will be vindicated, again, even as the Christ has been vindicated in the Resurrection.

In the meantime, Christ has said that you would have peace. This is the purpose of His speaking to us, giving us His Word, revealing Himself to us, not only this section of the Gospel but in all of Holy Scripture. He tells us the truth so that we would have peace in the world, even though we do not have peace with the world. 

They hate and mock our prayers and faith, but we belong to God. We have His Name. He gives peace that the world cannot give. This peace comes from the Father for the sake of Christ. It is the peace that was announced by angels to shepherds and then bestowed in the Upper Room. It is peace with God. Full joy. We are reconciled to the Father in the Blood of Christ. He loves us and we belong to Him and He to us. This world, its sickness and death, its pain and sorrow, its lies and betrayals, along with its constant lack and many evils, is passing away.

But Christ says: “Take heart. I have overcome the world. I have bought your peace, won your joy, named you as My own. The hour will come when you will not be scattered and separated and alone. The hour will come when you will have no needs or lack. You will be gathered to My Father’s bosom and then you shall ask Me for nothing but forevermore will sing with Me My Father’s praise.”

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia! 

Isaiah 12:1-6; James 1:16-21; St John 16:5-15
LSB 816, 556, p155, 790, 754, 768
+INJ+

Beloved in Christ, there are two categories of religion in the world. The religion of justice. And the religion of mercy. The former emphasizes the work and effort of the practitioner, but is silent about the person and work of Christ. The latter places the work of Christ at the center. The believer’s works flow from faith in Christ’s mercy.  

In this binary it is impossible for someone who is singularly focused on justice to understand Christianity. Christianity centers on mercy. Those who are obsessed with justice cannot understand how it is that we are so concerned about pure doctrine when there are starving children in Africa. Or how we seek to discuss the clarity of Scripture when there are unbelievers walking the halls of our schools. 

They think that our religion is worthless and that we are hypocrites because we do not care about the things they do in the way they do. 

They have a point. The Spirit calls us to love our neighbor, to show mercy to the poor and needy, and to speak the truth. No Christian living on this side of glory can hear the charge “hypocrite” and not cringe in guilt. We don’t do what we say we should do and what we want to do. We say one thing and do another. 

Yet contrary to the judgment of the world, to the judgmentalism of even those who call themselves our brethren, and even contrary to our own conscience at times, the Holy Scriptures declare that we who are baptized and believe in Christ are holy, righteous, and innocent for Christ’s sake. This is not because we have pure hearts or have done enough good works. It is because God has forgiven all our sins by offering up His own Son as our Substitute, our Ransom and Atoning Sacrifice. He declares us righteous despite our imperfections and even wickedness. 

You, the baptized who believe in Christ, who trust in His mercy, yet who daily sin much, you are rightly called SAINTS. You are the people of God. It would be a terrible pity that we would forget or be ashamed to be called saints. For to forget this is to forget Christ and Holy Baptism. 

There is an irony here. Those who fear they are hypocrites are saints. Those who cast the stones, who claim to hate hypocrisy in others, are not. Two men went up to the Temple to pray. . .

You, who are truly sinners, who know your sin, who deplore your wretched flesh and feel its burden. You ask for grace and want to do better. And even though it accuses and condemns you, you love God’s Law. You see in it what is truly good and true and beautiful. God’s perfect Word and will. His desire of His people. What you were meant for. You do not simply shrug off the charge of “hypocrite.” It is a serious danger. 

But at the same time, while you don’t want to be called sinner, don’t shrink from that title “saint.” To be both things at the same time is not the mark of a hypocrite. It is the mark of a Christian, a baptized and redeemed sinner, who has not yet been transferred to glory. 

To be a Christian you must believe in two things at the same time. You must believe the Law which accuses you and calls you sinner. You must also believe and trust in the Gospel which forgives all your sins, comforts you, and calls you “saint.”

The devil will try to tell you that the sins which you commit every day offend God and therefore you are not a saint. The devil is a liar and the master of half-truths. Yes, you are filthy in your sins. Your conscience terrifies you. But even as a mother’s love is stronger than the filth and scariness and stink on a naughty child, so the love of God toward us is stronger than the dirt that clings to us. We are sinners. But we do not thereby lose our filial relation on account of our filthiness. God is our Father who has made His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to be our Brother, that we might live by His Spirit. Unless we let our sins rule over us and give into them, we are not hypocrites. 
But the devil likes theology. He is masterful at rightly dividing but wrongly applying God’s Law and Gospel. He will tell you that the Holy Spirit does not dwell where there are habitual sins. And you’ve got them. He will tell you that the Bible teaches that Christians progress and grow in their sanctification. But you are growing worse in sin. 

Again, he twists the truth. Jesus says, 
When the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all the Truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take what is Mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is Mine; therefore I said that He will take what is Mine and declare it to you.

In other words, the Holy Spirit gives away the Kingdom to sinners by the Word. He glorified the Son in His Crucifixion where He was lifted up from the world. And He continues to glorify the Son through the preaching of His Cross by which He calls sinners to Himself. This is the Good and Perfect Gift of the Son’s righteousness which comes down from the Father of lights. 

The Holy Spirit is a kind of Robin Hood. The Father, not the devil, offers up the Son. The Holy Spirit who drove Christ to the desert for temptation, kills and robs Him on the Cross, takes what is His and the Father’s, and gives it to you through the Word, read and preached. Do you believe this? Yes. Then you are not a hypocrite. 
Beloved, you are growing in sanctification. Part of that growth is an increasing awareness of and sorrow over your sins. And while you can’t look into the hearts of men, you can’t even completely look into your own heart, Christ can. He looks into the hearts and minds of men. He sees yours and by His Spirit He not only convicts you, but comforts you. Sanctification isn’t quantifiable like bricks and pennies. 

The Christian mind and heart says, “I believe and cling to Him who is in heaven as my Savior and Advocate. He will come to judge the living and the dead. And if I fall into sin I will rise again by His grace and mercy. I don’t continue to sin with immunity.  I live by His grace and mercy. Sin doesn’t rule over me. By His grace, through His Word and Sacraments, I rise up and become the enemy of sin. I hate sin. I renounce it. I ask again for mercy. I come as a child, filthy and guilty, naughty. With tears in my eyes. I have done again what my mother told me not to do. I come to her trusting that she will still love me, wash me and kiss my wounds. I trust that Christ sends His Spirit into my mind and heart by His Word to Comfort and Defend me when my conscience afflicts me.”

The Christian faith differs from all other religions in this: the Christian hopes even in the midst of evil and his own sins. He lives by faith in the mercy of Christ. 

Without the Holy Spirit natural man can’t do this. He can only seek refuge in his works. To say, “I am a child of God,” or “I am holy, a saint of God,” is not arrogant anymore than saying, “I am an American is arrogant.” For the Christian it is not hypocrisy. It is poverty of spirit. It is faith and trust. 

You can’t see all of your good works. You can’t see the growth and strengthening of your faith. But you can’t see the Holy Spirit either. You hear Him. He is a Preacher. You live by His Word. You trust in His promises. Not all that is real is visible. 

I tell you the Truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you. . . When the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all the Truth. He will glorify Me, for He will take what is Mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is Mine; therefore I said that He will take what is Mine and declare it to you.
Now there is something to sin about this Cantate Sunday. 

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
​He is risen indeed! Alleluia! 

Isaiah 40:25-31; 1 Peter 2:11-20; St John 16:16-22
LSB 793, 483, 462, 756, 602, 482
No Manuscript Available

Misericordias Domini (23 April 2023)
Ezekiel 34:11-16; 1 Peter 2:21-25; St John 10:11-18
​LSB 481, 709, 66, 864, 737, 534, 735

+INJ+

The ancient understanding of goodness was much deeper and richer than what our post-modern minds allow. Good in our contemporary culture is a matter of opinion. It is assumed that what is frequent is normal. And what is normal is good. Thus it is argued that if something is prevalent is must be normal. And if a majority of people agree that it is good then it must be. 

This tactic was employed by the proponents of so-called same-sex marriage. It is also the strategy of the advocates of transgenderism. The frequency with which moral degeneracy is displayed normalizes it. And if something is perceived as normal it will eventually be accepted as good.  

This is not only true for society at large, but we do this individually. For our own consciences and lives. When we normalize sinful behavior we desensitize our consciences to God’s holy Law.  

For the ancients this was a disastrous way of understanding good. Destructive not only to society but to the soul. Plato’s most famous allegory is that of the cave. A group of people who have lived chained up in cave all their lives facing a blank wall. They watch shadows projected on the wall from objects passing in front of a fire behind them. These shadows are the prisoners’ reality. They give them names. But they are not true representations of the real world. They are not good. 

Plato explains that the philosopher, the lover of wisdom, is like a prisoner who is freed from the cave and comes to understand that the shadows on the wall are not the substance. He returns to inform his fellow prisoners and help them break free of society’s assumptions of what is good and to grasp the ultimate good of God Himself. But they refuse to believe his words and kill him. They’d rather live in their delusion.  

Our problem is that according to our sin-nature we are constantly fighting that notion of goodness. Our sin-nature thinks there is freedom in the cave. It wants to live in the delusion. For freedom Christ has set you free. Our delusion is that we often have a romantic notion of the Good Shepherd, thinking that His goodness resides in His affection for the sheep. That He is the strong, yet gentle lover of the sheep. 

Fine. That notion is not completely out of place in the New Testament. But that is not what the ancients described as good. And that is not what Jesus is saying. He is not saying, “I am the gentle Lover of the sheep.” But neither is He saying He is the Good Shepherd in the way that our culture misunderstands that word. 

Our Lord didn’t speak in English. He probably spoke in Aramaic or possibly Hebrew. There is even a chance He spoke this in Greek. In one sense it doesn’t matter what language He spoke. The Holy Spirit has given His Word to us in Greek. And what the Holy Spirit gives is authoritative. So you might as well learn a Greek word today. The word translated as “good” is kalos. Jesus said, I am the Kalos Shepherd. 

That word has a tremendous amount of theological freight. Everything from when God saw all that He had made in the beginning and behold it was kalos. The kalos sacrifices of Abel, the shepherd. The appearance of the Son of God to the shepherd Moses in the Burning Bush. The Passover and Exodus. Psalm 23. Ezekiel 34. And a host of other passages. 

Good, kalos, is understood as how perfectly a thing fulfills the purpose for which it was given. Kalos means good, right, fitting. It means true, beautiful and perfect. It means competent, good for you, noble. 

What Jesus is saying is that He is the Perfect Shepherd, the True Shepherd, even the Noble Shepherd. Precisely because He lays down His Life for the sheep. He is the most fitting, uniquely qualified and best Shepherd for sinners. He is, in fact the only Shepherd who can actually bear this title. Not Abel or Moses. Not King David nor all his sons. They were only types, shadows on the cave wall of the gracious rule of our Kalos Shepherd. Even the most faithful, best Pastor is but a poor echo of the true Shepherd.

Our Lord’s primary purpose in this assertion is to deny the claims of all other shepherds. He denies the claim of the many shepherd gods and kings of the Greeks. He rejects all pagan claims to being good. At the same time He rejects the claims of the Pharisees, Priests, and Essenes. He is not the Good Shepherd how they mean or even expect. He is the Kalos Shepherd who alone is the Redeemer, Savior and Atoning Sacrifice for sinners. 

The Lord alone can make this claim. Even all undershepherds, whether King David or Pastor Mierow, shepherd another’s sheep while himself being a sheep of the Kalos Shepherd. He alone is the Kalos Shepherd. He is Alone is the One who is morally and ontologically good. He is wholly perfect, without blemish or stain or sin. 

But His claim does not come from being morally or even essentially good. Jesus’ claim that He is the Kalos Shepherd comes from His faithful obedience and perfect sacrifice. He is the true and only Shepherd because He gives His Life for the sheep. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth. When He was reviled, He did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but continued entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in His Body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls. He is the Good Shepherd. 

And that which is good gives insight into that which is beautiful and that which is true. For Plato beauty was eternal and moved man to seek after harmony. St Augustine taught that God wove beauty into every part of creation. And that things were especially beautiful when they worked according to the goodness of their created purpose. 

Is it any wonder that our culture, which has made goodness subjective, has effectively expelled the timeless standard of beauty from discussion also? “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” they claim. If goodness is relative than so also beauty and likewise truth. And if these three virtues - goodness, beauty and truth - describe God, than He too must be subjective. 

Thus does the Kalos Shepherd speak the truth, I am the Good Shepherd, I know My own and My own know Me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My Life for the sheep. He is Truth Incarnate. He is the Kalos Shepherd. He is the Beautiful Savior.

Dear lambs, He has called you out of the dark cave of sin and death, bringing you into the beautiful Light of His Truth according to His Good Word. As you are loved by He who is Wisdom Incarnate so do you love the Wisdom of His Word. And as you share this beautiful Word of truth and goodness do not be surprised that the world hates you and may even seek to kill you. Resist the temptation to return to the cave.

Rather, listen to the call of your Good Shepherd. For He brings you here by the Voice of His true Word to the sheepfold of His Church. Psalm 50 exclaims, The Mighty One, God the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth. 

Come, then, dear little lambs. Even though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, fear no evil. Your Kalos Shepherd is with you. His rod and staff, His Word and Spirit, they comfort you. Behold, He has prepared a Table before you. A Feast of rich food, given in the righteousness of Christ, His own Body and Blood, swallowed by death, alive from the grave, given to you hear as the Food of Immorality.   

The wolf may howl, he may snarl and rage, but death cannot have you, its sting is lost, its power undone. The Lamb the sheep has ransomed. You belong to Christ, the Great Good Shepherd and Bishop of your body and your soul, who gathers you together as one flock. His truth and goodness follow you always. You shall dwell in His beautiful House forever.  

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.

Quasimodo Geniti (16 April 2023)
Ezekiel 37:1-14; 1 John 5:4-10; St John 20:19-31
LSB 490, 471, 467, 472, 597
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+INJ+

On the evening of Easter Day, the disciples were gathered together. They were not meeting to celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord. They were not rejoicing in Jesus’ triumph over sin and death. This was not a gathering of faith. No. It was a gathering of unbelief. 

The disciples, who should have benefited from more than three years of the best theological training in the history of the world, were cowering behind locked doors. In fear for their lives. They didn’t believe the testimony of Mary Magdalene who had seen the risen Lord. They didn’t believe Jesus’ own words, that He would be crucified and rise again after three days. What Jesus had said stood in conflict with the reality of death. 

So, in spite of Peter’s confession that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God, the disciples believed that death, not Jesus, was lord. They were gathered together in fear. They had seen Jesus die. Like you, they trusted that death would have the final word.

But the disciples had another reason to be afraid. Jesus had said, Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Mt 5:10). But in the first time of persecution all the disciples had forsaken Jesus and fled. Jesus had said, Whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father in heaven (Mt 10:33). Peter had denied Jesus with oaths and curses. Judas had betrayed Him. They had shown themselves to be the worst sort of disciples. And if Jesus somehow was not dead, He had every reason to be angry with them. So, the disciples might have had every reason to fear the Resurrection. To fear that Jesus would seek vengeance. 

Now, with the doors having been locked where the disciples were on account of fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and says to them, Peace be to you.

The doors were locked for fear of the Jews, but locked doors don’t discriminate. They keep out all kinds of unwelcome guests – unless that guest happens to be Jesus. In that case, Jesus simply comes uninvited, locks or no locks, and stands in the midst, saying, Peace be to you.

This is no mere greeting. These are not empty words. We may ask a stranger or even a friend, “How are you?” but we aren’t really asking. We don’t mean our words. It’s just a greeting. Not so with Jesus. Our resurrected Lord stands before His disciples, the scars of His battle against sin, death, and hell still visible on His hands and side, and declares His victory with these words, Peace be to you. These are words of absolution. Of forgiveness. No doubt, the disciples were troubled by specific sins – forsaking and denying their Lord. Fearing to suffer for His name. And especially, for their unbelief. All these sins are forgiven in Christ’s words, Peace be to you.

But there is more to this peace. The sins that trouble us merely flow from the source of original sin, the sin-nature born in every man and woman since Adam. In the garden, all humankind chose to believe the word of Satan over and against the Word of God. We refused to trust in God as our Father, and instead willingly became allies of Satan. As Paul writes, You were once alienated and hostile in mind (Col 1:21) and again, we were enemies [of God] (Rm 5:10). Eating of the fruit was our declaration of war. 

Nevertheless, God proclaimed to Satan that He would not allow this new alliance to stand. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel (Gn 3:15). Through the Seed of the woman, who is Christ, God promised to restore proper hatred between man and Satan, to break up our partnership with death. In Isaiah, the Lord God declares, Then your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Hell will not stand (Is 28:18).

The first promise of the Savior was given after God found Adam and Eve hiding in the Garden. It is fitting that when Jesus comes to announce the fulfillment of this prophecy, He would find the disciples, once again, hiding. So He stands before His terrified disciples and proclaims God’s verdict upon all the sons of Adam. Peace be to you. 

Jesus declares that our war against God is now over, our iniquity has been pardoned. The price of our peace, as Isaiah says, has been laid upon Him. Peace be to you. When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Here was the proof. The scars in His hands, the gash in His side testified to His words. Peace with God had come at a terrible price. We were reconciled to God through the death of his Son (Rm 5:10). It cost Jesus everything – His Blood, His Life – yet He paid this price gladly. For the joy set before him, he endured the cross willingly, despising its shame (Heb 12:2).

It’s no coincidence that in Jesus’ first encounter with His disciples following His victory upon the Cross, He proclaims to them peace and the forgiveness of sins. By the sin of one man, Adam, Satan had brought death into this world. Sin separated us from God. Sin wreaked havoc upon God’s perfect creation. But now, on the first day of the new week, the eighth day of creation, Jesus had fulfilled God’s promise to redeem fallen creation. 

In the beginning, through the power of His Word, God spoke the universe into being. With His Word He breathed life into Adam, as He also did to the dry bones in Ezekiel’s vision. And now, in a parallel act of re-creation, Jesus, having conquered the curse of death, breathes life into His disciples saying, Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld. This is why Christ established His Church and sent out His Apostles. 

For even as Jesus was sent by the Father, announcing peace with God and proclaiming the forgiveness of sins, so also, Jesus sends His disciples that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations (Lk 24:47). This is the task of the Church: To proclaim our Lord’s death and resurrection, and in His Name to forgive the sins of repentant sinners, but to withhold forgiveness from the unrepentant as long as they do not repent. Just as sin brought death into the world, so the forgiveness of sins gives Life to all believers.

By the power of the Holy Spirit, the gathering of faithless disciples became a gathering of believers, and the disciples rejoiced that they had seen the Lord. Even though their faith had been weak, or non-existent, they had gathered together according to Jesus’ promise, Wherever two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them (Mt 18:20). And true to His word, He was there among them. Death could not keep Him away. The grave was powerless to hold Him. Our resurrected Lord stood among His disciples, as He stands among us today, announcing the forgiveness of sins, bestowing the Holy Spirit, and strengthening – or creating – faith. This truly is the Divine Service, where God comes to us bestowing His gifts, and we rejoice because we have seen the Lord.

But not Thomas. Thomas, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. For whatever reason, He had forsaken the assembly of the saints. Jesus had come, and Thomas had missed Him. The other disciples told Him, “We have seen the Lord!” And not just once. They told him, and kept on telling him – again and again. But Thomas would not believe. Instead, in rather crude language, he says: Unless I see in His hands the mark of the nails, and jab my finger into the mark of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I will absolutely never believe. 

Perhaps you’ve heard people say that Thomas got a bad rap. Poor Thomas had a single episode of doubt, he will forever be remembered as “Doubting Thomas.” But consider Thomas’ confession: I will absolutely never believe! This is the strongest negation possible in the Greek language. This is not doubt. This is not uncertainty. This is damnable unbelief. “Doubting Thomas” is too kind. He should instead be called Unbelieving Thomas. Or Thomas the Atheist. If Christ had not been merciful, Thomas would have remained in his unbelief, and would have been damned.

The same is true for you. Unless Christ had mercy, you too would have been lost. So, why do we often seek to clean Thomas up a bit, to have some sympathy? Perhaps because we know that we are Thomas. Sinful flesh doesn’t want to admit the depth of its depravity. But the Scripture is clear: You were lost in sin and unbelief. You were unwilling to come to God. In fact, you were His enemy. You had nothing to contribute to your salvation – except sin and hostility toward God. Do you want to be numbered among the saints, among the disciples? Answer carefully, for Jesus chose forsakers, deniers, betrayers, unbelievers, persecutors, and murderers to be His disciples. Are you in this company? “Give glory to God”, as Joshua exhorted Achan, “and confess your sin.” For yes, your sin is great – but your Savior is greater.

Christ was merciful to you. You could not, by your own reason or strength believe. You did not desire to come to Him. Once again, the doors were locked. Yet if the grave could not hold Him in, how could locks keep him out? He stands in your midst and says to you: Peace be to you. Thomas, bring your finger. Jab it into my hands. Thrust your hand into my side. Thomas, do not be unbelieving, but be believing.

This may sound like a rebuke, and it is. But it is also a loving and gracious word. The same God who said, “Let there be light” and it was so, now says to you, “Be believing!” and it is so. Christ is merciful to you. He comes through locked doors and conquers your unbelief. He bids you to thrust your hand into His life-giving side and take freely from His bounty. He bestows his Holy Spirit, creating and sustaining the faith by which you cry, My Lord and my God!

Jesus said to Thomas, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” You are blessed indeed, for God has seen fit to pour out His gift of the Holy Spirit upon you, who have not seen, but now believe. You, who once were far off, have been brought near. You, who once were enemies, have been made dear children of God, and may once again call Him Father. 

Blessed are you who have not seen and yet have believed. And yet, you have seen the Lord. Your ears have heard His words. You have felt the water of baptism that flowed from His gaping side. You have seen with your eyes and tasted with your mouth the living Body and Blood of our Savior, who is present among us again today. And so, you too may say, “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word: For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel.”

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia! 
​Amen.