SERMONS

As he proclaimed the Lord's prophetic Word, Jeremiah certainly knew what it was like to be led as a lamb to slaughter by those who resisted the Word. Certainly these words apply all the more to Jesus, the Lamb of God, who was sacrificed for us. He, who was delivered into the hands of sinful men, has delivered to us forgiveness, life, and salvation through His death and resurrection. Christ is truly "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).

After the disciples could not cast out the demon from the boy, an exasperated father pleaded with Jesus to see if He could do anything. When Jesus said, "'If You can! All things are possible for one who believes," it is without question that Jesus can accomplish this. When the father says, "I believe; help my unbelief" (Mark 9:23-24), it is also without question that Jesus has compassion on all who call upon Him, no matter how weak their faith. His compassion to save depends solely on His love, which is shown in the giving of Himself to conquer sin, death, and the devil for us

The beautiful picture of healing in Isaiah was literally fulfilled by Jesus. In His hands, "the deaf hear and the mute speak." Jesus has fulfilled all the prophecies about Him in the Old Testament. By His grace, He also has opened our ears to hear His Word, to repent, and to believe the Gospel of His forgiveness through His cross and resurrection. Moreover, He has opened our mouths to speak of how "He has done all things well" (Mark 7:37) for the sake of the world.

The Law was written by the finger of God (Exodus 31:18). Forty years later, as the people of ancient Israel were about to enter the Promised Land, Moses pointed again to that Law, reminding them to listen to and do the Lord's rules and statutes that they may live. However, ancient Israel, like the whole world, failed to keep God's good Law, for sin has produced death under the Law (Romans 7:13). However, God has also given us the Gospel-pointing finger of John the Baptist that directs us to Jesus, who kept the Law perfectly, died in our place, and forgives us as "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).

The Pharisees and the scribes supplanted God's Law with their own human traditions, even equating their teaching with the Commandments of God. Even well-intentioned human traditions can become an excuse for ignoring God's Law. However, Christ has not come to fulfill our laws and standards but God's. God's Law was given to point us to our need for Jesus and what He accomplished through His cross and resurrection .

Wisdom calls us to be fed with life. Jesus, the wisdom of God Incarnate, is inviting all who are in Him to eat of the bread and the wine that He has to feed us. Jesus Himself is the bread of life who grants eternal life and makes us wise unto salvation with His Word (see 2 Timothy 3:15). Moreover, Jesus feeds us the true food and true drink of His body and blood, given and shed for us, in the Lord's Supper (see John 6:55).

Elijah feared for his life and was on the run. However, the Lord miraculously sustained him for forty days and forty nights. It was not mere cake and water but the Lord's promises attached to that food. Jesus, the bread of life, gives us the bread that sustains us unto eternal life by believing in Him. In the Lord's Supper, we are sustained for our daily lives of faith, not by mere food, but by the power of Jesus' words that deliver His very body and blood in, with, and under this bread and wine.

"What is it?" It is bread from heaven with which the Lord God mercifully fed the grumbling Israelites for their wilderness journey and foreshadowed the bread of life. Who is the bread of life? It is Jesus, the Son of God. What has He come to do? He has come to bring salvation through His cross. How do we receive this bread of life? We receive Jesus through Word preached and Sacrament administered.

The waters of judgment covered the whole world. However, the Lord, in His mercy, saved those on the ark. The Lord set the rainbow in the sky for the world and Him to see as a sign of His covenant of mercy. The Lord continues to give us the signs of His mercy in His Word and Sacraments. The waters of Holy Baptism are life-giving and a sign of His promise to us that we are saved by the washing of regeneration that unites us to Christ.

Five loaves and two fish were all that could be found. But with Jesus' blessing, a meager meal for a few people is a satisfying supper for five thousand men with twelve basketfuls to spare. Jesus was showing Himself to be the Shepherd who feeds His people. Jesus does not give us the Lord's Supper to satisfy our stomachs but to feed us with the abundance of His body and blood, given and shed for us.