LESSON: 2 THESSALONIANS 2:12‒17

And He entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer’; but you have made it a den of robbers.” Luke 19:45‒46

The temple and the whole priesthood was established to promote God’s Word and for the praise of His grace and mercy. This was to be attested with the external service of sacrifices and in public thanksgivings. But the temple services were not simply regarded by the Jews as opportunities for praising and thanking God for His grace and mercy; they turned their temple worship into a monkish doctrine of works. With their sacrifices in the temple, they believed that they could earn God’s grace for themselves, and that by the making of many sacrifices they could influence God to give them heaven and all earthly blessings as well.

All that they should have expected from God on the basis of God’s pure goodness and grace, they based on their own works and merits. In addition, in the devil’s name they went so far in all this that in their greed they set up tables for money-changers and seats for those who sold pigeons and other animals to offer as sacrifices right in the temple, so that those who came from distant lands and cities might find enough to purchase or exchange their money there. This they did to increase the trade in sacrificial animals and to enrich themselves in the process.

In the name of worship and under the excuse of worship, they absolutely distorted all worship and destroyed it. They changed God’s grace and mercy into human merit, and His gift into human work which He had to accept from them and for which He had to thank them.

SL 11:1482 (36)
AE 78:346-361

PRAYER: In Your Word, O Lord, You are giving to us; we are not giving to You. Keep us ever mindful of the fact that You are the source of all blessing, and that we are always receivers solely dependent on Your grace, in and through Christ our Savior. Amen.

LESSON: 1 PETER 4:12‒19

“Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for My name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.” Matthew 19:29

In many ways we resemble the Jews. They were more concerned about their bellies than about God, more intent on filling their bellies than on learning God’s plan of salvation for them. Ultimately, therefore, they lost out in both directions, and deservedly so. Inasmuch as they refused to accept eternal life and joy, God also deprived them of their bodily welfare, and so they lost both body and soul.

They offer an excuse which rings much like those we also hear today from our contemporaries, “We would have been quite glad to accept the Gospel, had it not endangered our body and property, and perhaps even cost us wife and children.” “If we let Him go on thus,” some of them said in reference to Christ, “everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation” (John 11:48).

What they here feared would happen did happen, for as Solomon said, “What the wicked dreads, will come upon him” (Proverbs 10:24). These fears prevented the Jews from believing in God. They did not regard the great and rich promises which God had made to them.

We also pass over such matters and do not see the mighty, comforting promises which our Lord has made us. Even if we do lose our earthly property, heaven and earth are the Lord’s, and He will certainly repay us freely and richly.

SL 11:1474 (16)
AE 78:346-361

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, Your blessings and benefits to us are many and great, as are all the free gifts of Your love and mercy. Open our hearts in such a way that we never offer any hindrance to the operation of your free and wonderful grace, and so that we may be prepared at all times to suffer everything and risk everything for Christ’s sake. Amen.

LESSON: PSALM 19:1‒4

Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed on and triumph, as it did among you. 2 Thessalonians 3:1

In our day, praise God, the Gospel is being proclaimed with a fullness and clarity that has not been known since the days of the apostles. We should appreciate this time of visitation and pray earnestly to God to continue it among us, especially also by continuing the blessings of peace.

The princes and rulers are always only too ready to decide matters with the sword. They are too bold in grabbing hold of God by His beard, and God will strike them on the mouth accordingly. It is high time to pray earnestly to God to keep on making His Gospel known in ever-widening circles among those who have not yet heard it. Should punishment suddenly fall upon us, it would be too late, and many souls would be left behind whom the Word had not yet reached.

This is why I deeply regret the fact that we despise the Gospel in such a horrible manner. This is not said simply for our own sakes, but also for the sake of those who are still going to hear he Gospel. Matters have settled down a little, and, God grant, I hope that this continues and that both the princes and the peasants do not become any crazier. If hostilities break out again, I have grave fears that they will not end.

SL 11:1473 (14‒15)
AE 78:346-361

PRAYER: Preserve unto us times of peace, O Lord, in which Your Word may have free course and still reach many who do not yet know it and believe it, for Your name’s sake. Amen.

LESSON: PSALM 95:6‒11

“The days shall come upon you, when your enemies will cast up a bank about you and surround you, and hem you in on every side, and dash you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another in you; because you did not know the time of your visitation.” Luke 19:43‒44

These words of Jesus were fulfilled about forty years after this when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in the manner described by Jesus. Let us learn a lesson from this, because it certainly concerns us and all other men.

This is no joking matter, and we have no reason at all to suppose that our experience will be so different. The Jews refused to believe it until they experienced it personally. We are now being visited by God. He has opened to us His treasure, His holy Gospel, by which we learn to know His will and to see how we have been held fast in the devil’s power.

No one is prepared to accept it in all seriousness. We even despise it and make fun of it. No city, no prince or ruler, is really thankful to God for this gift. And what is even more serious, there are those who persecute and revile the Gospel.

God is patient and bides His time for a while. If we simply misread open facts and push matters too far, however, He can take His Word away from us, and the same wrath which fell upon the Jews can also fall on us. For we have the same Word, and the same God and Christ that the Jews had. We, too, will suffer the same punishment that the Jews suffered, for the same sin that they committed, despising and rejecting God’s Word and, more particularly, His Gospel of salvation in Christ. “Today, when you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts” (Hebrews 3:7).

SL 11:1471 (10‒14)
AE 78:346-361

PRAYER: Lord God, Your warning voice is always quite plain. We have no one but ourselves to blame if we fail to recognize the day of Your visitation. Keep us always fully aware of the serious nature of Your offer of salvation, in and through Christ our Savior. Amen.

LESSON: ROMANS 13:11‒14

“Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace!” Luke 19:42

There are many ways in which God can punish men for despising and neglecting the Gospel and His Word. He can send them false prophets and sectarians who preach with such assurance that one would imagine they had swallowed the Holy Spirit. Even men in whom we had every confidence can become their victims and fall into error, so that they no longer know what they should do or leave undone.

There is no greater affliction or calamity than for God to send us sects and false teachers, because they are so bold, keen, and daring that it is really pitiable. On the other hand, the Word of God is such a great treasure that no one can adequately grasp it. God values His treasure very highly, and when He visits us in His grace it would please Him greatly if we accepted His visitation with love and thanksgiving.

He does not bring us under compulsion here, as well He might, but He wants us to follow Him gladly, with joy and love. However, He does not wait for us to come to Him; He gets in first and comes to us. He comes into the world; He becomes man; He serves us, dies for us, rises again, and sends us His Holy Spirit. He also gives us His Word and opens up heaven so widely that all stands open. In addition, He gives us rich promises and assurances of His temporal and eternal care here on earth and in heaven and pours out His grace upon us in full measure.

We are now living in a rich time of grace, but we despise it and throw it to the winds. This He cannot disregard.

SL 11:1472 (12‒13)
AE 78:346-361

PRAYER: In Your Word and Gospel, O God, You have bestowed rich and precious gifts upon us, and by Your mercy and grace we have enjoyed a rich season of grace. May we never lose the appreciation of the precious nature of Your rich blessings to us, but ever continue in their full enjoyment, in and through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

LESSON: LUKE 19:41‒48

When He drew near and saw the city, He wept over it. Luke 19:41

The events described in this Gospel occurred on the day we usually call Palm Sunday when Jesus, amidst public acclaim, entered Jerusalem as the king of grace. On that occasion He proceeded at once to the temple, and there He preached for three days on end. This He had never done before. The sum and content of this Gospel is Christ’s deep concern over those who despise God’s Word and His lament over their ultimate distress.

You have often heard what the Word of God is, what it brings with it, and what kind of students it encounters. This Gospel tells us nothing of these aspects. It simply sets before us the punishment and distress which will come upon the Jews because they did not know the time of their visitation. We must take a close look at all this because it also concerns us. If those are punished who do not know the time of their visitation, what will be the fate of those who knowingly persecute, blaspheme, and dishonor the Gospel and the Word of God? Here, however, Jesus speaks only of those who do not know the time of their visitation.

There are two ways of preaching against those who despise the Word of God. Christ illustrates one method when He pronounces His woes upon Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, declaring that it will be more tolerable for Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom on the day of judgement than for these places (Matthew 11:20‒24).

The other method of dealing with those who reject God’s Word is illustrated here in this Gospel when Jesus weeps over Jerusalem. He feels the deepest of compassion for these poor, blind people. He does not reprove or threaten them as hardened and deluded sinners. His heart melts in love for them. He has compassion for those enemies.

SL 11:1468 (1‒4)
AE 78:346-361

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, as You shed tears of mercy and compassion over Jerusalem, so also let us experience Your love and compassion whenever we stand before You as sinners in need of salvation, for Your mercy and truth’s sake. Amen.

LESSON: MATTHEW 25:31-46

And the King will answer them, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.” Matthew 25:40

How will the people whom we help by means of the unrighteous mammon receive us into the eternal habitations? Will they take us by the hand and lead us in? By no means!

When we come before God’s judgement, some poor man to whom I have done good will stand up in heaven and say, “He washed my feet; he gave me drink, food, clothing, and so on.” This man will really prove himself a friend to me and a witness to attest my faith. Such a poor beggar will be more useful to me than St. Peter or St. Paul, for they will not be able to help me then. But when a poor beggar will come and say, “O God, this is what he did for me as a member of your flock,” this is going to help me, for God will say, “What you did for him, you did for Me.”

These same poor brethren will not be our helpers but our witnesses, so that God may receive us. In saying this, I do not want you to withhold due honor from St. Peter and the other saints, for the saints, too, are members of God and of Christ. But you do better in giving your neighbor a penny than you do in building a gilded church for St. Peter, for to succor the poor is something you are commanded to do, but you are not commanded to build a church for St. Peter.

Nowadays, men are prepared to do anything and everything for the saints, who are dead and beyond all assistance from us, but the poor people, whom we should really treat as a holy shrine, are left sitting or lying on the street.

SL 11:1454 (20)

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, let us never fall into the error of seeking showy works to impress our fellowmen rather than the works of love which help our needy neighbor, works truly pleasing to You, in and through our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Editor’s note: No American Edition (AE) equivalent for today’s sermon excerpt exists at the time of this publication. For an alternate English translation of this sermon, see Lenker, Church Postil—Gospels, 4:291-301.

LESSON: HEBREWS 12:18-24

Enter not into judgement with thy servant; for no man living is righteous before thee. Psalm 143:2

It seems, on the surface, that Christ in this week’s Gospel (Luke 16:1-9) actually suggests that we should do good works by means of unrighteous mammon, so that we may obtain eternal life thereby and that those whom we have helped with our mammon may receive us into eternal habitations.

Our opponents are not slow to remind us that we have always taught we should not do good works to inherit eternal life and that what we read here seems to be the direct opposite of this doctrine. What are we going to say to this? There are many passages here and there in Scripture which speak of our merits. With these, our opponents think they can set God’s mercy at naught and force us to adopt the position that we must satisfy God’s justice with our good works. Be on your guard against such views and take up your stand on God’s pure grace and mercy alone, saying, “I am a poor sinner, O God; forgive me my sins. I will gladly keep silent about my merits if you will only keep silent about your judgement.”

Why was Christ given us as our Mediator? If we want God to enter into judgement with us on the basis of good works, we push Christ aside as our Mediator. And without Christ’s work of mediation, we cannot stand before God. Hence, let Him remain your mediator. Seek the cover of His wings as the psalmist advises: “He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge” (Psalm 91:4).

Let this be your prayer: “O God, I do not presume to claim any merit before you from my works, but devote them to the service of my neighbor, placing all my faith and trust in your pure mercy alone.”
SL 11:1452 (14)

PRAYER: We give You eternal thanks and praise, heavenly Father, for the riches of Your grace and mercy continually bestowed upon us poor, lost, and condemned sinners, in and through our Savior and Mediator, Your Son Jesus Christ. Amen.

Editor’s note: No American Edition (AE) equivalent for today’s sermon excerpt exists at the time of this publication. For an alternate English translation of this sermon, see Lenker, Church Postil—Gospels, 4:291-301.