[Luke 13:31-35] At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to [Jesus], “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” 32And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course. 33Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’ 34O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! 35Behold, your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’”
[Philippians 3:20] “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ…”
Uncertain Times and a Better Citizenship
The Pharisees and King Herod were not allies. They were natural enemies. Herod stood for licentious, self-indulgent living. Moral flexibility in his standards. Noted in Scripture for his adultery – and for beheading God’s prophet, John the Baptist, who spoke against it.
The Pharisees stood for moral strictness and high standards. The best for their nationality and nation. They stoned the adulterous! And were about to once, before Jesus stopped them [John 8:1-11].
Herod and the Pharisees were at odds in every way – except for a few. The power and prosperity of their nation, Israel, were of high importance. Jerusalem mattered a lot, though for different reasons. They were men of this world.
Neither Herod nor the Pharisees could’ve sung, honestly, “I’m but a stranger here, heaven is my home…” For the Pharisees it was religious – for Herod it was politics – for both, matters of this world were their hope, not God’s heaven.
This fact united them against one common enemy. When they met the God of heaven, they despised Him. God became Man in His Son Jesus Christ. God came. The Pharisees who professed to serve God in purity of life and doctrine – and Herod, who sat on the throne over God’s chosen Israel – when they met the Lord, were at odds with the Lord.
Throughout the Gospels, the Pharisees are clearly opposed to Jesus, plotting against Him in every interaction. So, we would assume in today’s reading as well that their motive isn’t friendly. They want Jesus gone, so they kindly warn Him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.”
Herod thinks Jesus might be John the Baptist raised from the dead [Matthew 14:2], and, so, probably really was seeking to kill him – again, kind of.
What is proven true – and is further seen to be true – is this: “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” [Luke 9:58]. Jesus, Son of God and Son of Man, is not at home in man’s world. Jesus has entirely different motives and interests.
Herod wants power, influence, and wealth in this world – and to pursue the desires of his flesh. Pharisees want purity in the traditions of their nation and elders – and to protect the established status of their religion and tradition in their country.
For Jesus, He is but a stranger here, heaven is His home. Earth is a desert drear, heaven is His home. Danger and sorrow stand ’round Him on every hand; Heaven is His fatherland, Heaven is His home. (If you remember the hymn…)
Heaven is Jesus’ home, and therefore His purposes on earth are heaven centered. “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course.’” Jesus is on His course to the cross. His face is set.
Jesus’ face is set toward Jerusalem – the city where He is headed – not to be honored, but to be crowned with a crown of thorns, to carry His cross, to be crucified and to die. For the purposes of heaven – to redeem sinners.
To redeem the adulterous woman. To redeem the greedy man. To bring the crucified thief with Him into Paradise. An to soften the heart of the hardhearted Pharisee and of the brutal centurion. To make repentance possible. To give new life.
“The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost”, said Paul, a former Pharisee [1 Timothy 1:15].
“I desire mercy, and not sacrifice. For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” [Matthew 9:13] – spoken for Matthew’s sake, a former defrauder and tax-collector.
“Your sins are forgiven”, Jesus said to a woman who had been forgiven much – and therefore loved the Lord much because of all He had forgiven [Luke 7:36-50]. Christ’s heaven-centered mission.
Regarding things on earth, “We live in uncertain times.” Something said so much that maybe it became cliché. But which, now, has become truer for more people – and which is always true at certain points in our life. Uncertain times.
How will the stock market affect your retirements? And how will it affect the many not-retired people among us who also depend on it? How will new tax and trade situations – new foreign relation situations – affect your ability to do what you need to do for your family?
Some pastors, in their congregations, have people suddenly out of work or potentially out of work because of changes outside of their control. Uncertainty.
Others have uncertainty about whether or not family members – or they themselves – will be able to come in and out of the country. Will paperwork actually get processed? Will fair, legal treatment and due process be the norm? What was an established and normal part of life for many is suddenly uncertain.
What if there is war? What if, in the next ten years, there is major war – and my nation is on the wrong side of it? How do we deal with that? For parents who have children who are not yet (but will be) of military age, these thoughts are more troubling.
And, what if something bad – completely unrelated to the troubles in the news – happens to you personally tomorrow, or next month? What if what you suffer is the fear, the anxiety, of uncertainty? Well, then, uncertain times certainly do not help.
I preached recently, in part, on the idea that, as Christians, we don’t always have a home in this world. The uncertainties of life create camps, tribes. Mere compassion for this person makes you an enemy of that group. Concerns over this or that issue makes you an enemy of another.
Even what you worry about can make you suspect to some. Herods and Pharisees and Lefts and Rights all form around the anxieties of this life.
What every political camp or ideological group will always have in common, in the end, is that they have no use for Jesus Christ and the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins. They belong to this world. But, for us, heaven is our home, and we walk with this different purpose.
At the very least, trouble in this world can remind us of our mission to the lost. To soften the hard hearts. To have compassion and bring the Gospel to those trapped by the desires of their flesh.
And to be a voice for God’s Word of truth – both the guiding light and convicting truth of His Commandments and the forgiving and renewing promise of His Gospel.
Jesus was beset by trouble on every side. But He was committed. His face was set toward the mission of His cross. In Jerusalem, He would become “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” [John 1:29]
He redeemed you by His death. He made new life for you by His resurrection. He created certainty. Certainty regarding you and God. Certainty regarding you and your truest citizenship, that of heaven.
“Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.” [Philippians 3:19-21]
Let’s remember that we have certainty about our truest treasure and our forever-future in our true home and nation, the kingdom of our Savior Jesus Christ. Certainty about the good will and intentions of Jesus, who will not turn us away [John 6:37; 2 Peter 3:9].
And let’s be committed to the mission given us – that our faces be set to raising our children, not as Herods or Pharisees, but as disciples of the Savior Jesus – to sharing with them and others the sure and certain hope we have in Jesus to give them the one thing that matters most and forever. Amen.
[Joel 2:12-13] “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.
Happy Lent
A cornered animal – even a kind, fluffy one – will lash out with claws and the gnashing of little, razor sharp teeth, once it feels that it is cornered. Maybe you were just trying to help. But it doesn’t know that. If it’s cornered, it bites and growls.
Now, think back to your catechism days, your confirmation days. If your confirmation days were in the Lutheran Church, you probably – I will assume; but otherwise, here’s your lesson – you probably learned about Law and Gospel.
God comes to us, in the Bible, in His Word, with two kinds of words – His Word of Law and His Word of Gospel. In His Word of Law, God speaks His commandments and His just judgment against sin. God’s Law shows us that we are condemned because we have not kept God’s commandments. The Law speaks as a judge.
The Law also plays out naturally in our lives even without hearing God’s Word of Law. The Law shows itself in the sufferings of this life. The wrecked nature of our bodies. In the natural consequences, or legal consequences, of wrongs you’ve done. The Law shows itself in my conscience – in the guilt I feel. In fear and anxiety.
And, God’s Law shows itself in death – the consequence of man’s fall into sin. God created man for life. After man fell into sin, God said to Him, “Surely you are dust and to dust you shall return.” And death spread to all men because all sinned [Romans 5:12]. When Adam fell, our whole nature fell.
God’s Word of Law, and the effects of the Law, corners us: God’s Law speaks “so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God” [Romans 3:19]. “The Scripture imprisoned everything under sin” [Galatians 3:22].
Why do people lash out? Why are some quick to be angry at God? Why do some react badly against good and wholesome things?
Why – when God’s commandments point out our flaws and shortcomings – why do we get angry? Why does a sermon anger me if its words confront something wrong in me? Why do we respond with self-justifications – “I didn’t do anything wrong!” – or excuses; or re-inventing the history of what we did.
When we react badly against God’s Word of Law, it’s because we’re seeing only God’s Word of Law. We’re trapped. We’re cornered. If there’s no way out, I can only either lash out or seek to justify myself.
Or, as Jesus cautioned us against in our reading from Matthew today, I may respond to the guilt of my sin with a show of hypocrisy. Putting on a show of righteousness to cover my unrighteousness.
The point is this: With only God’s Word of Law – with only His commandments and just judgments against sin – repentance is impossible. How can a person repent if they have nowhere to repent to, no one to flee to?
For repentance to be possible, we must hear God’s Word of Gospel. We must hear of the Savior to whom we can safely flee.
God’s Word of Gospel is His Word of the Forgiveness of your sins. God’s Law puts you on trial, but His Gospel shows up in court and speaks the pardon. Yes, you have done wrong, but you have been pardoned because of the actions of another.
Sin brought death – so you have ashes on your forehead today to remind you that you will go to the dust. But those ashes are in the shape of a cross to remind you of the One who has won your pardon. The One who has died for you.
God’s Word of Gospel shows your Savior. “For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” [1 Corinthians 15:21-22]
“For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many… as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness – the cross of Christ – leads to justification and life for all men.” [Romans 5:15-21]
This is the Gospel: That, on the cross, Jesus, the holy Son of God, traded places with sinful mankind – traded places with you – and died in our place. “For our sake He made Him to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” [2 Corinthians 5:21]
Your sin was counted as His. His righteousness is counted as yours. “One has died for all, therefore – as God reckons it – all have died” [2 Corinthians 5:14]. Everyone’s price is paid. Justice is done. Now your death is not death but the beginning of everlasting life.
Lent is a season of repentance. Which makes it a happy season. We are no longer cornered, but can flee to the Lord - “Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and He relents over disaster” – Good News and our reason for joy.
The events of this sin-fallen world – the errors and evils of nations; our own or others – also cannot corner us forever. This world matters. Nations matters. Because our neighbors matter – both here and there.
But the world and nations, and all their evils, do end. You-with-God never ends. Your-neighbor-with God never ends.
No matter the world circumstances, let’s repent more seriously and turn more seriously toward the effort of making sure our neighbors know the Savior they have in Jesus Christ through God’s Word of the Gospel. Amen.
[Matthew 28:18-20] And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Ever Walking with Jesus
Eat your vegetables. Play outside. Share with your siblings. Don’t touch that electric outlet! And don’t put the dog’s toy in your mouth. Dads and moms begin teaching their children from a very young age.
By word and example, parents are teaching their children – intentionally and in ways we don’t even realize – from the time we bring them home from the hospital.
A quick, rudimentary google search will tell you that children begin learning from the moment they’re born, and, likely, even in the womb.
That kids start learning from the very start is known, I’m sure, by most parents, even without looking it up. From their very beginning, kids are developing rapidly – their body – their abilities – their mind – and developing their will. Learning wants and likes and dislikes.
And, developing trust, faith. The comfort of their mother’s presence. The safety of their dad’s voice. Faith in their parents’ hearing – that calls for help will be heard.
This all starts without the ability of words, and develops in the years ahead in ways that can be spoken. Eventually, even reasoned about. From birth onward (even into adulthood), mom and dad are teachers. Sons and daughters are learning from you.
Because learning starts from the beginning, Christian parents naturally apply the words of our Lord Jesus in this morning’s Gospel [Matthew 28:18-20] from the beginning. “Make disciples of all nations…” beginning with those in your care.
From their beginning, God wills our children to be disciples of Jesus, receiving what He gives and being shaped by His Word taught.
So, why baptize the little ones? Because from their very beginning, as from our beginning, children have need for what Jesus has done for them.
Baptism is not a stand-alone act but connects the baptized to the saving death and resurrection of Jesus. They are baptized into Jesus’ death and resurrection [Colossians 2:12; Romans 6:3-5], connecting them now to what Jesus did back then.
From our beginning, we need our Savior.
For example, we know, tragically, that from the very beginning of life, death is already an adversary. But Jesus is the victor over death – by His death and resurrection – for young and old – You are “…buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him” [Colossians 2:12]. He gives life to our mortal bodies, so that, though we die, yet shall we live [John 11:25]. Since death affects even the young, baptism is for the young.
Original sin – the sin-fallen human condition – is also already affecting us from our beginning. There is a moral brokenness already in us, in our inherited human nature, from the start. It’s already in there. And as our will begins to develop, there is sin, showing itself.
Since sin already affects us at our beginning, the Savior from all sin is given at our beginning. Jesus is the balm and healing for the condition we suffer – and the atonement and forgiveness for the wrongs we do.
Jesus is, therefore, our Savior from sin from as young as we need Him. “Baptism now saves you” [1 Peter 3:21]. “He who believes and is baptized will be saved” [Mark 16:16]. “Cleansed…by the washing of water with the word” [Ephesians 5:26].
And we baptize our young ones because baptism is for believers. Scripture shows, abundantly, that faith in Christ is there in our infant years and even in the womb.
John the Baptist leapt for joy in his mother’s womb at the presence of Jesus in Mary’s womb [Luke 1:44]. The little ones praised Jesus in His triumphal entry: “Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies You have prepared praise” [Matthew 21:15-16].
And the Psalms say, “Upon You I have leaned from before my birth” – “You made me trust (believe) You at my mother's breasts” – “from my mother's womb You have been my God” [Psalm 22:9-10; 71:6]
So, as we heard, Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” [Matthew 19:14]
Since Jesus said, “make disciples… baptizing them, teaching them…” (He said it in that order), it follows that, just as we parents teach our kids from the beginning, we also will baptize them from the beginning.
This baptism stands at the beginning of a whole life of teaching – a whole life of you parents being your children’s teachers, your children’s missionaries . You’ve adopted a life of forming them as disciples and of bringing them to the place of teaching, to equip yourselves and them in God’s Word.
The Word of God creates and sustains their faith in Christ. The Word of God guides them in God’s Commandments and Jesus’ words. And the Word of God sets in their hearts constantly the forgiveness of Jesus their Savior.
They cannot continue in the faith without the constant knowledge that God forgives them and God loves them. They will drift from that knowledge if the hearing of God’s Gospel is absent or infrequent.
And, parents, your sins are forgiven. Jesus has forgiven the sins and failures of dads and moms, having taken all that sin into Himself, and having died for it on the cross. You walk in His forgiveness, as you seek to ever walk with Him in the raising of your children as His disciples.
As young children develop into young adults, their minds become more introspective and discerning, and so does their faith. Faith takes on new aspects: a need to understand; a more conscious discerning of God’s gifts; engagement in self-examination in their repentance; and an intentional use of Confession & Absolution and the Lord’s Supper for the forgiveness of sins and help in doing better.
These things develop in a young disciple’s faith – and in that of older disciples, all of you here – when the Word of God accompanies the mind and heart which, in natural course, develops as God has designed. (One way we mark this is by Confirmation.)
“Make disciples… Baptizing them… teaching them… And behold, I am with you always – all the days – even unto the end of the age.” All of your days, to the end of days. Ever walking with Jesus, because Jesus is ever with you, as you raise up His little ones.
So be encouraged, and be blessed to be dads and moms of any age. Amen.
