Stare at Jesus' Verbs

Christmass Morning

December 25, 2016

Isaiah 52:7-10

Stare at Jesus' Verbs: Born, Died, Rose, Coming Back

In the name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!

Don't try and read the whole Bible. Don't make it a New Year's resolution. Don't starting reading Genesis 1 on January 1.

Instead, take a baby step. Read one of the Gospels. Gospel means good news and this is why the life story of Jesus Christ is called collectively, the Gospels. About 2/3 through the Bible you'll find them: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Read a chapter a day. Whatever day of the month it is, read that chapter number. So on January 13, read Matthew 13. When you run out of chapters, start in on Mark. Or go back and pick up the ones you missed.

When you're reading these stories of Jesus' life, you'll see Jesus walk, talk, die, and rise from the dead. Before and after His death, you'll hear Jesus condemn sinners, forgive sinners, and help desperate people.

Reading Jesus' life and death repeatedly won't get boring. But by hearing the words and deeds of Jesus, beginning with His conception by the Holy Spirit and His birth by the Virgin Mary, you will grow in your joy of your sinners forgiven by our merciful Lord. He gives you the opposite of what you deserve. Instead of death and hell, which you deserve because you are a poor miserable sinner, He gives you life and heaven because of His death and resurrection. This is good news!

The prophet Isaiah preached 700 years before Christ was born in Bethlehem. Sometimes Isaiah is called the fifth Gospel writer, along with Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Isaiah's preaching, inspired by the Holy Spirit, was filled with good news. He foresaw the events that have led to our salvation.

How beautiful on the mountains

are the feet of those who bring good news,

who proclaim peace,

who bring good tidings,

who proclaim salvation,

who say to Zion,

“Your God reigns!”

ISAIAH 52:7 NIV 1984

Isaiah is describing Christmas—the shepherds coming down from the hills where they had been watching their flocks at night, to see the Prince of Peace for themselves. And after seeing the Christ Child, they spread good tidings to Zion, another name for God's people.

Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices;

together they shout for joy.

When the Lord returns to Zion,

they will see it with their own eyes.

ISAIAH 52:8

By baptizing you Jesus made you one of His people. And ever since then you have been one of His watchmen. You watch and wait for His return.

One of the most basic habits of wise night watchmen is not to be blinded by light. Watchmen who smoke on duty or face the warm fire with their back to the darkness aren't going to last long. The passing lights steal away their night vision. If Hollywood has taught us anything, it's that the guard who stays snug in his shack won't last long. So these blinded watchmen can't see what's really happening.

Christians watch wisely when we do not become blinded by the passing “lights” of this world. Many grown-ups think that children or spouses or family or community or humanity will provide true warmth for living, but they are staring at the wrong lights.

By faith we stare at Light of the World, Jesus. A most important way to stare at Jesus is to read His story again and again. And His good news will not blind us. With His words shows us the way things really are. And this makes us laugh and sing.

Burst into songs of joy together,

you ruins of Jerusalem,

for the Lord has comforted His people,

He has redeemed Jerusalem.

ISAIAH 52:9

When Isaiah preached, Jerusalem wasn't destroyed physically. But spiritually the nation of Israel was already ruined. It is similar to our situation today. Our nation is still strong on the outside, but whether our best economic days are behind or ahead of us, we live in ruins. The world sees things backwards. Always. They trust what they can see. But remember they are blind. It is their imagination, like a blind man trying to imagine an elephant.

We don't imagine; we know. We fear, love, and trust in the one true God above our collective imagination. We know Jesus has redeemed Jerusalem, another name for God's people. He did with His bare hands.

The Lord will lay bare His holy arm

in the sight of all the nations,

and all the ends of the earth will see

the salvation of our God.

ISAIAH 52:10

Usually baring your arm means using your arm to kill and smash your enemy with your club, sword, or hand. But here God conquers for us not with violence, but by suffering violence. On the cross the Lord exposed His holy arm and hands and legs to all the nations. Pilgrims from every nation on earth passed Him by as He hung on the cross of Calvary. His true identity was displayed above His head in all the major languages of the time. They all saw Him die. And in His death is our victory. Jesus' death is God's way of saving us.

We were born dead in sin;

He was alive and was born without sin.

Because of our hatred of God we deserved to die;

God died so that we won't.

For even the Son of Man did not come to be Served, but to Serve, and to Give His Life as a Ransom for Many. Amen.

Christ’s Coming Blossoms Deserts

Third Sunday in Advent

December 11, 2016

Isaiah 35:1-10

Christ’s Coming Blossoms Deserts

In the name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!

The prophet John was in jail. He was the man sent by Jesus to prepare the world for His coming advent. John had spoken truth to power and jail was his reward. And so John sent some of His followers to make sure Jesus was really the One for whom they had been getting ready.

²When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent a message by his disciples ³and asked Him, “Are You the One who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” ⁴Jesus replied to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: ⁵the blind see, the lame walk, those with skin diseases are healed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are told the good news. ⁶And if anyone is not offended because of Me, he is blessed.”

MATTHEW 11:2-6 HCSB

Jesus' reply is basically, “I do impossible things. Yes, I am the One.”

Using striking images, another prophet of God, Isaiah, pictured a future where impossible things took place. Isaiah prophesied:

¹The wilderness and the dry land will be glad;

the desert will rejoice and blossom like a rose.

²It will blossom abundantly

and will also rejoice with joy and singing.

The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,

the splendor of Carmel and Sharon.

They will see the glory of the Lord,

the splendor of our God.

ISAIAH 35:1-2 HCSB

Speaking in images that we would understand, Isaiah tells of deserts being transformed into fertile land. Roses blossom and cedar trees grow big. Lebanon is where you go for cedar; King Solomon went to Lebanon to get beautiful cedar timbers for the Temple in Jerusalem. Carmel was a range of hills with lush vegetation; Sharon was on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and was famous for its flowers.

This transformation from dry desert to lush gardens of plants, trees, and roses is a good way to think about your conversion.

Before Jesus blessed you, you belonged to yourself. And you had nothing. You tried to create artificial green in your desert, but it was fake. Think Las Vegas. Like Vegas, the only thing we can think to do is to take pride in being fake.

Faking is the sinner’s way of life. We pretend to be good when others are watching, but when we think no one is watching . . . Just think about your Google searches during this past month.

We usually try to put up a good front, but on our own it's fake. It isn't real. Even kids are fake: If you are led to believe that a Kit Kat bar is in your near future, you will be very good, until said candy bar is or is not delivered.

We are deserts, who try to look green. Let us say what this is: Sin, trying to save ourselves. Repent, stop faking, and turn to Jesus.

Jesus is the One who has the water of life and He gladly waters you. Isaiah described Jesus taking a desert and making it into a lush garden. That's you! Psalm 1 described Christians like trees drinking up water, which is the Word of God.

¹How happy is the man

who does not follow the advice of the wicked

or take the path of sinners

or join a group of mockers!

²Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction,

and he meditates on it day and night.

³He is like a tree planted beside streams of water

that bears its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither.

Whatever he does prospers.

PSALM 1:1-3 HCSB

Out in the wilderness John was free. John preached in the desert and baptized fakers of all ages in the River Jordan. He boldly preached that we are sinners who needed the Savior. But when he was in jail, it must have like being put out into the desert. But then the words of Jesus came back to him and these promises poured out over John like rich clean beautiful water. Jesus is the One.

³Strengthen the weak hands,

steady the shaking knees!

⁴Say to the cowardly:

“Be strong; do not fear!

Here is your God; vengeance is coming.

God’s retribution is coming; He will save you.”

⁵Then the eyes of the blind will be opened,

and the ears of the deaf unstopped.

⁶Then the lame will leap like a deer,

and the tongue of the mute will sing for joy,

for water will gush in the wilderness,

and streams in the desert;

⁷the parched ground will become a pool of water,

and the thirsty land springs of water.

ISAIAH 35:3-7a HCSB

For even the Son of Man did not come to be Served, but to Serve, and to Give His Life as a Ransom for Many. Amen.

Jesus' Unexpected Birth Foreshadowed His Unexpected Work

Second Sunday in Advent

December 4, 2016

Isaiah 11:1-10

Jesus' Unexpected Birth Foreshadowed His Unexpected Work

In the name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!

I.

The promise of the Jesus the Savior coming into the world was under threat from the very beginning. Around 2000 years before Jesus was born, Isaac, Abraham's son and Jesus' ancestor, was almost murdered. Jacob's sons and their families proposed in Egypt for a time, but soon the pharaoh tried to exterminate the Hebrew people. Around 1500 BC God rescued them and sent Moses to deliver them and things went well for quite some time.

But around 600 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem calamity struck the nation of Israel: the Babylonian Empire and its king Nebuchadnezzar invaded and destroyed Jerusalem. It probably seemed to many Jews and Gentiles that the promise of a Savior Messiah coming true was slim to none. God had promised that the Savior would be a descendant of David's dynasty of kings. But the Babylonians put an end to David's dynasty. It's a good bet that many assumed that this coming Messiah would be an actual king, born in the palace at Jerusalem, amid pomp and circumstance. But now after the devastation of Jerusalem and the exile of her people and kings, things looked bleak.

But others read the writings of Jesus' prophet Isaiah. Isaiah predicted that the Messiah would have unexpected beginnings.

Then a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.

ISAIAH 11:1 HCSB

Jesse was the father of King David; his stump meant that the line of David would be chopped down. But Isaiah also added that a Branch would spring up from Jesse' roots. This meant that David's descendants wouldn't be kings or queens, but lowly people. Like a shoot that grows up from the trunk of a tree, Jesus' birth would look like an afterthought or accident. But instead the reality was the opposite of appearances: Jesus' birth happened at just the right time.

And so this brings us to the blessed Virgin Mary and her betrothed Joseph, lowly descendants of David. The angel spoke God's Word into her ears and the Spirit of the Most High overshadowed her and she was with the Child. And this Child would be born and grow up. And His grown-up life began like this:

¹³Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. ¹⁴But John tried to stop Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and yet You come to me?” ¹⁵Jesus answered him, “Allow it for now, because this is the way for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him to be baptized. ¹⁶After Jesus was baptized, He went up immediately from the water. The heavens suddenly opened for Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on Him.

MATTHEW 3:13-16 HCSB

And so just as Isaiah predicted:

The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him

ISAIAH 11:2 HCSB

II.

Then this Jesus who had an unexpected beginning would go on to do strange and unexpected things.

He will not judge by what He sees with His eyes… and He will kill the wicked with a command from His lips.

ISAIAH 11:-3b, 4d HCSB

This judging and killing sum up the unexpected things that unexpected Jesus does. He does not judge by what He sees. This is what we humans do. We judge by seeing. We see what we want to see. This goes for how we judge our fellow human beings and how we judge God.

But Jesus doesn't judge like we do. He sees what we try to hide. And what we try to hide is our false expectations, which is another way of saying our sins. And so Jesus sends preachers to expose our sins to the light of day, as we hear in the preaching of John the Baptist:

“Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance. And don’t presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones! Even now the ax is ready to strike the root of the trees! Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

MATTHEW 3:7b-10

John's preaching was meant to kill the hearer's false expectations. They thought they were good and going to heaven because Abraham was their father. This is as foolish as our expectation today that our grown children will go to heaven because they once years ago recited some lines in a Christmas program or that they still show up for their annual trip to the Christmas Eve service.

The truth is that if they can't be bothered to come to their nearest faithful church and receive Christ, they aren't Christians. That's the simple truth. Like the Pharisees, we try to make God fit into our expectations. Abraham is our daddy, so we're good. My parents took me to church, and I don't hate Jesus, and I try to be a good person, so I'm comfortable in my despising of Christ and His Word.

We judge by what we can see. We look like good people. Our children look like good people. And God should be content with how we look on the outside.

III.

We are tempted to believe these lies, and sometime we actually believe them. So Jesus sends preachers to chop down the whoppers with the ax of His Law and kill us. He does this to bring you back to real life and bring us to His holy mountain. We heard last Sunday how Isaiah spoke of God's holy mountain of Zion, which is a way of speaking about His Church here on earth and of our future with Him in heaven. This is how Isaiah pictures it.

The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the goat. The calf, the young lion, and the fatling will be together, and a child will lead them. The cow and the bear will graze, their young ones will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. An infant will play beside the cobra’s pit, and a toddler will put his hand into a snake’s den. None will harm or destroy another on My entire holy mountain, for the land will be as full of the knowledge of the Lord as the sea is filled with water. On that day the root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples. The nations will seek Him, and His resting place will be glorious.

ISAIAH 11:6-10 HCSB

For now these are unexpected pictures of our unity in Christ. In the Church here on earth we spend time with people whom we might not otherwise expect to spend time. And I think Isaiah might be pointing us back to the beginning of time in the Garden of Eden to show us what our everlasting future might be like. But whether little kids are actually play patty-cake with cobras or not, we know that our Savior-God, born as Man in Bethlehem, will gather us to Him, just as He does now.

So even though now it might seem that our future looks like a tree stump—our nation is divided, our children are abandoning the church—we judge by whom we cannot see: Jesus. And in Jesus our stump shall be the tree of life.

For even the Son of Man did not come to be Served, but to Serve, and to Give His Life as a Ransom for Many. Amen.