For the 5th Sunday after the Epiphany the three readings to choose from for preaching are Isaiah 6:1-13; 1 Corinthians 14:12b-20 and Luke 5:1-11. The text to interpret and apply will be Isaiah 6:5, “The I said, ‘Woe is me, for I am undone!”

Isaiah is in the midst of a vision with the Lord God sitting on a throne, high and lifted up surrounded by seraphim angels with 6 wings. Is that why he said, “Woe is me”? From an L&G point of view, the Woe is me is the natural response on the part of human beings when confronting God. Because all fallen human beings live under the Law, they are under the impression that their works, their thoughts and their words will make a difference as to whether or not God will decide to save them. Realizing how far short each of us fail to live up to God’s perfect demands, we naturally conclude that we are in big trouble in the presence God Himself. The Gospel reading from Luke 5 reveals a similar response on the part of Peter after the miracle of the fishes.

The goal of the sermon is to see to it that every listener is cut to the bone with his or her inability to be right with God through personal effort. It is a proper preaching of the Law that never uses the Law as a means of getting right with God. Instead, the Law is used to do God’s work of accusation and damnation. The sermon is not to direct the accusing finger of the Law to those outside the fellowship gathered together but rather to hammer home the fearful consequences of those who will die under the curse of the Law.

The Gospel provides no help to the unbeliever or believer, for that matter, in saving oneself. Rather, the Gospel is the announced promise that God will do all the saving with neither cooperation with or contribution from anyone who is attempting to save himself. That comes home so clearly in this passage as an angel needs tongs to remove the blazing hot coal from the altar. What happens next is often overlooked. That same hot coal is then applied to the lips of Isaiah. But rather than a scream from the man, verse 7 reveals that now his iniquity is taken away and his sin purged.

This needs further clarification. For the word iniquity could refer to the sin itself but that would be ridiculous because no one stops sinning when forgiven. Rather, the Hebrew word for “iniquity” refers to the punishment that should be ours because of our sin. It refers to the consequences of being under the curse of the Law. What Jesus did on the cross was not take away our sins but take away our eternal punishment that should have been ours. We are forgiven in the sense that we are no longer held accountable by God for our sins. Why? Because Jesus was held accountable on the cross.

As an aside, this also provides a wonderful opportunity to speak of water baptism. Just as God uses a hot coal that conveys the forgiveness of sins, so also in the Pentecost baptism God conveys the forgiveness of sins through a splash of water into the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. So also, the same God provides the true body and blood under the form, not of a coal or splash of water but through a morsel of bread and a sip of wine. What a mystery! Or as Jerome translated into the Latin Vulgate, what a sacrament!

The three readings selected for the 4th Sunday after the Epiphany are Jeremiah 1:4-10 (17-19); 1 Corinthians 12:31b-13:13 and Luke 4:31-44. Selected to analyze from a L&G perpsective is 1 Corinthians 12:4, “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself; is not puffed up…”

This passage is a splendid example of how difficult it is to preach consistently Law and Gospel sermons. Using theological language, this passage is in the context of sanctification, not justification. That is, the passage has to deal with how the Christian behaves not how he becomes a child of God. In fact, keeping in mind the context of Corinthians, this passage is the behavior only of a child of God. It is truly a waste of time to preach this to unbelievers, if, for no other reason, is the fact that this passage is speaking of the fruit of the Holy Spirit which only a believer can receive properly.

If the sermon simply reveals what true love is, it’s kinda like having a recipe for cookies but only writing about how good they taste, not what are the ingredients or how they are to be put together and baked. Paul has spent a lot of time prior to chapter 13 talking about nothing other than Christ crucified (verse 2:2). To put it another way, the final product cannot be created until the individual ingredients are well known. You can’t preach sanctification until you exhaust justification.

There are three uses of the Law; the first concerned with the government while the second and third with the Church. The second accuses each of us of failing to meet God’s requirements. However, these passages in chapter 13 are not used to accuse someone of falling short of the glory of God. Instead, they are to be viewed as an answer to the question of believers who ask, “What pleases you God?” Simply preaching about what love is will not produce that love anymore than talking about how a person can fly like a bird will result in such flying.

The third use of the Law is information to the believer who sincerely wants to do the will of God out of a free and unbound will. That is, knowing that there is nothing that we can do to earn God’s favor or keep our salvation, we are now free to do good works without any compulsion or necessity to do so. For when you will gain nothing in your salvation by doing a good work, you are truly free to do them unlike others in every other religion in the world who have to do good works in order to be saved.

The analogy to bring forth is again the behavior of children. What a difference it is to a child to have to obey parents in order to be fed, clothed and housed in contrast to even the disobedient child who receives these gifts from loving parents. That the parents love the child spontaneously covers a multitude of sins. That God’s love for each of us resulted in Christ’s death on the cross indeed covers a mulititude of our sins.

Preaching about loving one another is not an exercise of explanation but rather a proclamation of the reality of what already is in place. For you and I who know and practice sin are incapable of doing even one good work, yet we now have a Savior Who took upon Himself our sin and exchanged it with His righteousness and salvation. Proper preaching of this chapter on love is not to answer the question of what we are to do to get right with God. Instead, chapter 13 is an answer to those who already have been declared right with God who now want to know what is pleasing in His sight. It’s not sanctification first and then justification; it’s justification first and then sanctification.

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For the third Sunday in Epiphany (Series C readings), the three assigned passages are Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10; 1 Corinthians 12:13-31a and Luke 4:16-30. Chosen for the sermon text is Luke 4:21, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

What has Jesus being rejected in Nazareth have to do with hearers of this event today? The purpose of every sermon is to get people to think as God does. God’s plan is that every passage of Scripture is to be used to move people to believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and therefore freely receive spiritual life. This reading is chosen as part of the season of Epiphany so somehow it manifests and discloses the true nature of Jesus Christ. After Jesus quotes from Isaiah 61, He concludes that what Isaiah is speaking of is finally fulfilled today.

What Jesus quotes is the passage about the One Who has come to preach the gospel to the poor, heal the brokenhearted, free the captives and so on. The first response of the people is to marvel at the gracious words He used in explaining the text. What gracious words? Once more we need to get into the shoes of the Palestinian hearers who had been taught by Judaism that you earned God’s grace by following the Law and particularly the ceremonial law. Whatever Jesus said, it must have been in line with the rest of the Gospel promises that Isaiah is talking about a salvation that is freely given by God Himself.

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Reading chapters 60 and 61 of Isaiah will quickly reveal that the Savior Who is coming is God Himself. By Jesus proclaiming that this passage is fulfilled today, He is revealing and manifesting Himself not only as the promised Messiah but as God Himself. It is most ironic that though He will not do a miracle as He did in Capernaum, He ends up doing a miracle by simply “passing through the midst of them” (verse 30) when they attempt to “throw Him down over the cliff.”

Part of the gracious revelation that Jesus does speak of is how the Gentiles (those in the town of Capernaum, the widow of Zarephath and Naaman the Syrian) are also incorporated into this new kingdom which the Messiah is ushering in. This is radical theology and must have been shocking to those listening to His sermon. For such gracious words had rarely been taught in the way that Jesus explains them. To become a child of God through no effort of your own and without any contribution to the process was totally out of sync with the teachings of the new religion called Judaism. (For more info on Judaism, check elsewhere on this blog by using the “Search” mechanism above.)

The application of this message is that the gracious words spoken by Jesus to His own hometown folks are also addressed to us today. We, who are accused by the Law of attempting to get right with God by our church attendance, offerings and good works need also to be condemned for such manipulation of God. For those outside the faith, there will be anger directed toward Jesus even today that our own works, words and thoughts have no bearing as to whether or not we are saved. Instead, the Holy Spirit takes the same words spoken by the Word Himself and creates a new heart and new spirit.

We therefore rely (trust) on the gracious promsies of the Gospel to be saved rather than the efforts we attempt to do in order to get reconciled with God. Because of the death and resurrection of Jesus, the God/Man, God is already reconciled to the whole world. Through the preaching of the pure Word of God and the proper administration of the holy sacraments, man becomes reconciled to God. Now that is a gracious message to a world burdened as it is today in so many ways.

In Series C, the three readings for the 2nd Sunday after the Epiphany, are Isaiah 62:1-5; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 and John 2:1-11. Chosen to analyze this coming Sunday is John 2:11, “This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.”

This true event of Jesus changing 180 gallons of water into the best wine is a great example of how the true purpose of this passage can get lost in trying to figure out certain questions of doctrine. This passage has been used to argue whether God permits us to drink wine or only grape juice, whether or not Mary is sinless and how this passage shows why we should pray to her and also a principle of life that one should give out the bad first and then later give out the best. Ridiculous. While these themes can be discussed on the basis of other passages, none of these themes are why the Holy Spirit inspired John to remember this event among all the other events that could not be contained in all the books of the world (John 21:25).

What then is the purpose of this passage? Part of the answer is that it is a primary text used for Epiphany. Epiphany reminds us of God’s way of revealing and disclosing the Person and Work of Jesus. Last week’s Baptism of our Lord was that He is seen as the Son of God. This week’s emphasis is Jesus as manifesting His glory which is the glory of God Himself. Jesus is more than the Son of Man; He is more than the promised Messiah; He is more than Savior; He is indeed God Himself!

One way to bring in a Law and Gospel theme would be to accuse the hearers of not believing how God uses the plain things of this world to accomplish the impossible. For example, this event demonstrates how Jesus as God changed simple water into wine which from a physics point of view takes the energy of an atomic bomb. But this is the same One Who raised a dead Lazarus simply by speaking a word. For the comfort of the hearers, this is also the One Who through the power of the Holy Spirit takes simple water and creates a new heart and new spirit within an infant.

Baptism, therefore is not only an important theme for the Baptism of our Lord, but it is also a significant theme in regard to Jesus’ use of water to make wine. It is of some interest that the rabbis in Jesus’ day conjectured that the fruit Eve and Adam ate was that of the fruit of the grape. How interesting is that the fruit which was traditionally part of the Fall of human beings into sin is also the fruit of Jesus’ first miracle as He begins to usher in the Kingdom of God.

Every passage of Scripture according to John himself is to “believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” That is not the subject of just interpretation using the principle of Scripture interprets Scripture, but also the subject of application which takes place through the distinctions of Law and Gospel. During this entire Epiphany season, the goal of every Bible study and sermon should be to give glory to Jesus because He Himself is God indeed!

For the Baptism of our Lord festival in Series C of readings, the three passages are Isaiah 43:1-7; Romans 6:1-11 and Luke 3:15-22. The text to prepare for a sermon will be Isaiah 43:3, “For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place.

The word Epiphany in the Greek language means a manifestation or appearance. The Church uses the term to refer as to how the holy Scriptures manifest Jesus the man from Nazareth. While the date could be January 6 or January 19 depending on the calendar system used, it primarily focuses on the coming of the Wise Men to the baby Jesus some time after the family left the stable and now resided in a home. The significant item mentioned in that visit is that the Wise Men worshipped the Child. This demonstrates their understanding that He was indeed God Himself.

While for many Christians who have heard the Biblical accounts of Jesus again and again, we often assume that the Old Testament made it clear that the Messiah would be God Himself. But that certainly was not obvious to the majority of Jews living at the time of Jesus. Indeed, the Messiah would be the promised Son of Man but that he would be God Himself was not taught. It is a fact that once we read the New Testament, we now interpret the Old Testament books with new eyeglasses and see passages that are indeed read as the promised Messiah would be God Himself.

If interested in a longer presentation of the Epiphany appearances of Jesus go to www.lawgospel.com and click on Radio to hear our explanation of the Epiphany of Jesus on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday’s broadcasts.

One such passage is in today’s readings from Isaiah 43. Verse 1 is God the LORD revealing that He created Jacob and formed Israel. Verse 3 even reveals that “I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.” There is nowhere in the Old Testament that God reassigns the task of being Savior to either a created angel or created human being. No, God Himself is our Savior. Thus, when Jesus is born, the Church refers to it as the incarnation of the Son of God. John the Baptizer himself speaks of Jesus as the One in Whose hand is the winnowing fan and that He will burn the chaff with unquenchable fire (Luke 3:17). When one looks up this reference in Isaiah and Jeremiah, it is clear that God is the One Who does this work.

The goal of this sermon would be to concentrate on the Epiphany or appearing of Jesus not only as the Son of Man as promised; not only as the Messiah as promised, but specifically as God Himself becoming incarnate to fulfill His promises of salvation that He made through the prophets. 1 Corinthians, chapter 3 makes clear that those of us living in the times of the New Testament are learning about God in a way that was not clear to those who came before us. The Corinthians’ passage makes specific note of the Gentiles also being part of God’s holy people without any distinction between Jew and Gentile.

But among the greatest of revelation and insight made clearly known to New Testament believers, is that the Messiah is none other than God Himself. This is a most comforting revelation because it means we can pray to the man Jesus because He is also God and in His humanity is omnipresent, all knowing and all merciful and gracious. He indeed is the proper mediator between God and man because He is both God and man. Christians today need to be aware of how radical was such a notion to many of the Jews at the time of Jesus that the Messiah was more than a super Son of Man–He was and is God Himself!

For a fuller examination of the Epiphany appearances of Jesus as God, go to www.lawgospel.com and click the Radio button to hear the Monday through Wednesday broadcasts of Law and Gospel.

On the 2nd Sunday after Christmas the three Series C readings are 1 Kings 3:4-15; Ephesians 1:3-14 and Luke 2:40-52. The passage chosen to interpret and apply is Ephesians 1:5, “having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.”

There is no greater unanswered question of all Christianity than, “Why some and not others?” Those who attempt to answer it will always fall into false doctrine. About the closest the Bible comes to answering that question is found in verse 5, “according to the good pleasure of His will.” While this is an answer it still does not satisfy the human’s desire to be in control of our destiny.

Of more importance is the analogy of what salvation really is. In every other religion of the world which has a personal god, salvation is up to us in meeting the divine demands for the purpose of meriting our becoming saved. However, in Christianity, there is no road or path of self-glory to reach such a destination. For our salvation is impossible to achieve if it means either doing works of perfection or making up for our sins.

The analogy God prefers for our salvation is ” adoption.” What does a baby do to get adoopted? Nothing. What does a child do to stay adopted? Nothing. Only Christiainity denounces our works as a means of salvation to make it clear that we are saved by grace. Grace means we do not deserve salvation. And that takes place because of a merciful God Who will not hold us accountable for our sins because of what His only-begotten Son Jesus Christ did on the cross and from the empty grave.

Why are some saved and others are not? We not only do not know but need not to know or else God would have revealed the answer in His holy Word. Instead, we know that those who are saved are saved through hearing that Word and receiving those holy sacraments which the Holy Spirit uses to create and sustain faith, salvation and our adoption as children of God!