Congregation at Prayer

Catechesis Notes for the Week — “I Desire to Show Mercy and Not to Receive Your Sacrifices” (Hosea 6:6/Matthew 9:13) The hatred that Jesus experienced by many throughout His earthly ministry was centered in a rejection of the Gospel of God’s mercy. The impenitent and the self-righteous despised Jesus’ mercy for the sinner. They did not believe that sinners were worthy; and if you were suffering an affliction of the body, they believed that you had done something to deserve it. The truth is: all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The call to repentance and faith in Jesus is a call to reject all self-reliance, confess your sins, and cling to Jesus for the gift of mercy that comes by grace alone. He desires to show mercy to us all and not to receive our sacrifices. None of us could atone for our sin or make up for what we have done. Christian faith clings to Jesus and His love for us. Out of this repentant faith, all good fruits flow. The irony concerning those who hated Jesus for His ministry of mercy, is that they hated the one who truly loved them and desired to be their Savior. This week’s Bible readings from Matthew highlight the Lord’s mercy and the phenomena of impenitence that rejects His mercy. In Two Blind Men Receive Their Sight, we hear the simple prayer of the penitent, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!” When Jesus Cleanses the Temple, He does so because the Jews had turned the order of salvation upside down. Instead of God providing for them through the sacrifices that He made for their salvation upon the cross, they adopted the works-righteous view that they could pay for their sins by their own sacrifices. Instead of the Temple sacrifices pointing to their fulfillment in Christ, they believed that they were a liturgy of salvation by works. The Fruitless Fig Tree is an illustration of how this “works-righteous faith” of Israel resulted in no true fruit of repentance and faith in God’s mercy. Therefore, they were under the curse. The Parable of the Two Sons contrasts faith in the Father’s mercy in Christ in the reception of the call to repentance versus impenitence and unbelief that refuses the call to repentance. The Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers is an illustration of Israel’s history in the Old Testament. He sent them prophet after prophet to call them to repentance and faith in His mercy, but they rejected and persecuted them all. In the end, they persecuted and martyred the Father’s Son. “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.” Finally, our week ends with The Parable of the Wedding Feast. In this parable we see the idolatry of setting one’s affections on the things of this world, rather than the free gift of salvation in the King’s Son. The ministers of the King go out into the highways and byways to call both “bad and good” to the wedding feast of salvation. It must be received as a gift of God’s mercy in Christ, or it cannot be received at all. Only those who are clothed with the wedding garment of Christ’s righteousness can enter into the feast.CP230806

Catechesis Notes for the Week — The Strength and Comfort of the Grace of God — “How often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seen times?” This is the question that Peter asks Jesus which inspires the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant. The liberality with which Jesus forgave sin and received sinners demonstrated the kind of grace that Peter had never seen in any other teacher. Jesus’ answer drives the disciples to understand that the grace of God in Christ is even greater than we can imagine. In the parable, the kingdom of God’s grace is represented by forgiveness for a debt that is impossible for the servant to ever repay. Our sin is an impossible debt before God. But in Christ it has been forgiven! If, therefore, we refuse forgiveness to a brother (who owes us far less than we have been forgiven by God) we deny the grace of God and reject the forgiveness that we ourselves have received from Christ. God’s grace in Christ is our only strength and comfort. When Jesus Teaches on Marriage and Divorce, we are to understand that it is the strength and comfort of God’s forgiving grace in Christ that alone makes it possible for us to be faithful in marriage. It is God’s grace that is on display when Jesus Blesses the Children. They could do nothing to receive His blessing but were given the blessing of forgiveness and life with Jesus as a pure gift. The kingdom of God must be received as a gift by all of us, or it cannot be received at all. The “gift character” of the Christian faith is something that the Rich Young Ruler could not grasp because he trusted in his own works for salvation. The one thing he lacked was repentant faith in Christ that trusted in Him alone for salvation. The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard is a parable of pure grace as illustrated in the various “workers in the vineyard” who are all “paid” exactly the same wage. Since Christ has paid the debt of salvation for each of us, it can only be received as a gift. In Jesus Predicts His Passion a Third Time, we learn that it is the atonement for sin by Christ upon the cross that is the foundation for the grace of God. Christ died in sacrificial love for us. His atonement won forgiveness for all our sin, and it is this forgiving grace of God in Christ that is at the center of all Christian theology and our only strength and comfort in life and in death.CP2307300

Catechesis Notes for the Week — “Take Up Your Cross and Follow Me” – When Jesus speaks these words to the disciples, He calls them and us to live the baptismal life. The cross always means death. When we become a Christian, we die to our sinful self in the call to “contrition and repentance that the new man might come forth and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.” Our lives, as baptized Christians, are patterned after Christ’s life of death and resurrection. In the Transfiguration we not only see the deity of Christ shining through His humanity, but we also see the glory that waits us all in the resurrection. St. James the Elder, Apostle is celebrated this Tuesday. He is the first of the Twelve to be martyred for His faith. The reading from Acts 11 highlights his martyrdom, but also God’s providence that spared Peter until another day. The call to follow Jesus resulted in James’ literal martyrdom, but by it he gave witness to the suffering and death of Jesus for our salvation. When a Boy Is Healed after the Transfiguration, we see the violence that is often associated with the miracle of faith. The old nature must die; the new nature must rise. But in the end, there is peace. Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection more frequently as He draws near to Jerusalem to suffer. The disciples would later remember these words which would be a source of strength as well as a catechesis on what is at the center of all Apostolic doctrine. Finally, we see in the question In Who Is the Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus sets forth a dependent child as the picture of what it is to be a Christian. His most severe condemnation is for anyone who would cause one of His little ones who believe in Him to stumble. It would be better if they had never been born. God’s love and desire to save is the motivation for going to an impenitent brother in If Your Brother Sins. Ultimately such encounters are to serve the sole purpose of bringing about repentance and restoring those who have gone astray from the faith.CP230723

Catechesis Notes for the Week — Jesus Is the Great “I AM”—The Christ, the Son of the Living God—This week’s Bible narratives from the Gospel according to St. Matthew show forth the divinity of Jesus. The confession of the Church is that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. As Jesus Walks on the Water, the disciples are afraid and think that He is a ghost. Jesus reply is poorly translated in most English Bibles. Instead of the typical translation, “It is I” Jesus actually said, “I AM”— the name God gave Moses at the burning bush. Jesus demonstrated that He is the Son of God, the great “I AM” not only with His words, but also by the miracle of walking on the water. In this miracle, the raging seas are under His feet proclaiming Him the Lord and Savior from divine judgment, sin, and death. In Out of Man’s Heart Proceed Evil Thoughts, Jesus teaches us the all-pervasive nature of the corruption of sin we inherited from Adam. In a Canaanite Woman Trusts Jesus’ Word, we see the miracle of faith that the Word of the Gospel produced in a Gentile woman whose daughter was demon-possessed. Though her experiences spoke against her with the false message that Jesus was not for her and that He did not care, she held fast to the promise of the Gospel spoken to Abraham, namely that Abraham’s Seed was the Savior of all nations. Jesus commends her faith because her faith was exclusively in Him and the promise of salvation in Jesus’ name. In the Feeding of the 4,000, the second of Jesus’ great feeding miracles, we again see that Jesus is the bread of life, but not for the Jews only (the feeding of the 5,000), but also for all nations (the feeding of the 4,000). In this miracle it is the third day (an allusion to the resurrection). There are seven loaves (the number for the Lord and the seven nations that had surrounded Israel). The number 4 is associated with “the four-winds” or “the four corners” of the earth, signifying that the Gospel will go out into all the world to draw all sinners to the feast of salvation. In the Pharisees and Sadducees Seek a Sign, Jesus warns the disciples concerning their “works-righteous doctrine” and lays out for us that the only “sign” that will be given to prove that He is the Christ, the Son of the living God, is the sign of Jonah, namely, Jesus’ death and resurrection. In the Confession of Peter and His Rebuke, we learn that the confession that “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God” is not only the foundation of the Church’s confession, but it is also why Peter is rebuked by Jesus when He denies that Jesus’ suffering and death is at the center of that confession.CP230716

Catechesis Notes for the Week — The Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven — What are parables? Are they stories or illustrations that make the complex easier to understand? Not necessarily. Even Jesus’ disciples had difficulty understanding the parables. “Why do You speak to them in parables?” they asked Jesus. To this Jesus replied, “because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.” The parables of Jesus so often describe the grace of God in the Gospel of Christ which is otherwise hidden from those who do not believe. Even Christians can have a difficult time understanding the parables. Parables are intended to help us ponder the mysteries of God’s grace in Christ which is very different from the world’s way of thinking. This helps to explain why parables often take strange twists and turns that are unexpected, like a sower who sows seed all over the place and not just on the good soil. The Parable of the Tares and the Wheat teaches us that believers and unbelievers will coexist in the world until the Judgment, and that the identity of the sons of the kingdom and the sons of the wicked one is often hidden and will not be revealed until the end of the age. In the Parables of the Kingdom, the mustard seed is Christ planted in this world by the Gospel—it is a Word that looks to be the most insignificant word in all the earth, yet He produces a mighty congregation of believers. The Gospel of Christ is like leaven that spreads faith in Christ often imperceptibly. Redemption in Christ is taught by the man who buys the entire field in order to obtain the treasure, or the merchant that pays the ultimate price to obtain the pearl. Our value is in the price that Christ paid for our redemption. The Parable of the Dragnet teaches us that on the Last Day the angels of God will gather together all people, separating unbelievers from believers, and casting unbelievers into hell. This week concludes with events in Jesus’ ministry that both follow and illustrate the kingdom parables. In John the Baptist Is Beheaded we see the depths of human depravity among those who reject the call to repentance and violently oppose the Gospel. In the Feeding of the 5,000 Jesus shows Himself to be the bread of life and the One who will provide His ministers with all that they need to feed the sheep with manna from heaven. CP230709

Catechesis Notes for the Week — Faith in the Midst of Unbelief — This week’s biblical narratives from Matthew and Luke illustrate the dramatic contrast between faith in Christ and unbelief. The week begins with the story of the Visitation in which Mary, newly pregnant with Jesus, visits her cousin Elizabeth who is six months pregnant with John the Baptist. Both women are filled with the Holy Spirit and joyful penitent faith in the Lord. Mary’s famous greeting, the Magnificat, confesses her total devotion to the Lord, her Savior. Elizabeth’s prophecy, “Blessed are you among women…” and the infant John leaping for joy in her womb, highlight not only the presence of faith in Christ, but also the joy and peace that such faith brings to sinners. In contrast, the ongoing stories from Matthew begin with Jesus’ call out of unbelief to faith, in Jesus Preaches Repentance and Faith. The woes spoken to Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum warn of the impending doom for those who reject Jesus. Yet the Gospel teaches that the sinner who is burdened and heavy laden finds his comfort and rest in Jesus’ mercy. In Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus teaches the self-righteous Pharisees that true rest is found in what He does for sinners, rather than in what sinners do for God. Jesus desires to give God’s mercy and not to receive our sacrifices. In Jesus Heals on the Sabbath, He not only teaches that it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath, but that God’s divine service of goodness and mercy to us is the source of true Sabbath rest. The unbelief and hardness of heart toward Jesus is on display in the accusation levelled against Jesus that He cast out demons by the power of Satan rather than by the power of God. But Jesus’ reply, a House Divided Cannot Stand, teaches us that it is by the Spirit of God that Jesus delivers from the power of Satan and establishes God’s kingdom of grace. To use the Words of the Catechism, “I cannot by my own reason or strength believe, but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel…” Where is true faith found? According to Jesus, a Tree is Known by its Fruit, and the fruit of true repentance and faith is in the words of a sincere confession of sin and faith in God’s mercy. The week concludes with the Parable of the Sower and the Seed in which Jesus teaches us that the miracle of faith is made possible by the Word of God alone which He, the faithful Sower, plants in the soil of our hearts.CP230702

Catechesis Notes for the Week — Jesus’ Pastoral Care and the Ministry—The ministry of the Gospel and Sacraments is about Jesus coming to us with His Word and Spirit both personally and corporately. When the disciples questioned Jesus about fasting, He spoke to them about how He was the bridegroom sent from heaven and by the “new Gospel” of His love there is cause for great rejoicing by those who follow Him. In a Girl Is Raised and a Woman Is Healed the personal character of Jesus’ ministry is revealed. The woman’s flow of blood was dried up by the touch of His garment. Similarly, by the ordinary earthly elements of water, bread, and wine Jesus comes with healing to each of us. Jesus’ raising of the little girl not only indicates His power over death, but also His love in the comfort He brought to the little girl’s family as they were reunited in life. Two Blind Men Are Healed shows us the confession of faith in Jesus that every Christian has. They were beggars. They had nothing and were totally dependent upon Christ. He was the object of their faith, and His mercy delivered them. This personal ministry for sinners in need of God’s grace is seen in the Sending Out of the Twelve who, by Jesus’ authority, are called to demonstrate His compassion for those who are “like sheep without a shepherd.” Jesus the Good Shepherd provides His under-shepherds to care for all the sheep of His flock. This faithful pastoral care carries with it the Promise of Persecution as ministers go out on His behalf. They are called to depend upon the Lord’s provisions alone, and when they suffer persecution, they testify to Him whose persecution brought about the salvation of those to whom they preach. Confessing Christ Before Men carries the comforting promise that Jesus will confess us before His Father who is in heaven. When John the Baptist Sends Disciples to Jesus for comfort and assurance that Jesus is the Christ, Jesus directs them to His saving ministry of Word and deed whereby He fulfilled the Old Testament Scriptures. Jesus’ ministry is also celebrated this week in the Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul, Apostles. By the Gospel of Jesus, these two sinners were made faithful apostles of Christ, proclaiming His forgiving grace to individuals and congregations alike. CP230625

Catechesis Notes for the Week — The Power of the Finished Work of Christ — The power of Jesus’ finished work is on display this week in the readings from Matthew. This power to save, heal, deliver from death, and cleanse from sin is delivered to us by Jesus’ Word. Faith receives the Word of Christ and trusts in its power to save. In Jesus Heals a Centurion’s Servant, we see faith in Christ’s Word as the centurion comes to Jesus on behalf of his servant. He confesses his unworthiness and declares, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.” In Jesus Heals Peter’s Mother-in-law, we see the power of Jesus’ touch to restore health and “with a word” to cast out evil spirits and healed all who were sick. In Jesus Stills the Storm, He rebuked the wind and the wave, showing His power over divine judgement. When the Two Demon-Possessed Men Are Healed, we see how the demons know who Jesus is as the Son of God but are afraid of Him and His Word. This same reaction was seen in the people from the city of the Gergesenes who begged Him to depart from them. Without repentant faith in Christ, the unbeliever is afraid of Jesus and the power of His Word to save. In Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralytic, we see that He has given the authority of His Word to forgive sins to the Church who, by her called ministers, forgives sin in Jesus’ stead and by His command. Each Christian also has the divine mandate to forgive others according to the station and calling God has given to them. “That you my know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins…He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house” … and when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.” Finally, the call of Jesus’ Word to faith and into the Office of the Ministry is seen in Matthew, the Tax Collector. “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” Ultimately, the power of Jesus’ word rests upon His finished work of salvation for us and for the whole world in His death and resurrection. If Jesus had not atoned for sin and defeated death upon the cross, He would not have risen from the dead nor would His Word have had any power to save. This power and authority of Jesus’ Word emanates from His saving work upon the cross and reaches forward and backward in time to save.CP230618

CP230611Catechesis Notes for the Week — Abraham believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness—The righteousness of God is the death of Jesus that covers our sin with God’s forgiveness. The righteousness of God in Christ’s death was witnessed throughout the Old Testament Scriptures of the Law and the Prophets. “Abraham believed in the Lord, and [the Lord] accounted it [faith in the promise of salvation] to him for righteousness (Genesis 15:6). Out of this faith in the promise of salvation, Abraham declared to Isaac, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering” (Genesis 22:8). Out of this faith Moses preached to the children of Israel, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today” (Exodus 14:13). By the promise of the Gospel they were called to faith in the righteousness of Christ centuries before His death. Christ is the Lamb of God which God Himself provided for our salvation. Christ accomplished everything that was necessary for our salvation in His death upon the cross. God set forth Jesus as the propitiation for our sin—the true “mercy seat” or “place of forgiveness”—through His blood. This is why Jesus speaks to us of His blood in the Sacrament of the Altar, “Drink of it, all of you; this cup is the New Testament in My blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” For the sake of Christ’s righteousness and in the forbearance of God, the Lord passed over the sins of the people of old that He might “be just” or “perform His righteousness” in the death of His Son, as He had promised in the Scriptures, and justify all sinners through faith in Him. The Word of God calls us to faith in Christ Jesus by whom we are justified or declared righteous as a free gift of God’s grace. Christ is the content of justifying faith. He is presented to us in the Word. God is just or righteous in Christ, because Christ has made full atonement for our sin in His death and has redeemed us from sin through the shedding of His blood. God is just or righteous in declaring us righteous for Jesus’ sake. The righteousness of God is received as a free gift of God’s grace through faith in Jesus and all that He has done for us. The object of saving or justifying faith is always and only Christ Jesus who suffered and died for us. Faith believes that Jesus is the righteousness of God and it is this righteousness alone that saves us from all sin and reconciles us to God. – Excerpted from Lutheran Catechesis: Catechist Edition, p. 106e.

Catechesis Notes for the Week — Jesus’ Call, the Beatitudes, and His Teaching on Righteousness—Our walk through the Gospel of Matthew continues with Jesus’ Ministry and the Call of the Fishermen to be “fishers of men.” These men were called from their livelihood as fishers to be in fulltime ministry as Jesus’ Apostles. In Jesus’ ministry they observed the power of the divine Word that they were called to preach. Throughout their three years with Jesus, they would learn dependance upon Him. The Sermon on the Mount begins with The Beatitudes which are first a description of Jesus Himself, who is poor in spirit, meek, and merciful, and then a description of what we share in through faith in Him. Faith in Christ is poor in spirit, contrite, meek, merciful, pure in heart, and hungers and thirsts for righteousness. The promise of faith in Christ is that the kingdom of heaven is ours, we shall be comforted, and we shall be filled with righteousness. Every blessing of the Beatitudes is ours through faith in Christ. Christ’s Righteousness Fulfills the Law teaches us that every jot and tittle of the Law is fulfilled by Jesus. He is without sin, and He dies upon the cross to fulfill the Law’s demands for us. This is the righteousness that is “greater than the Scribes and Pharisees” and it is received by faith alone. To counter all notions of pharisaical self-righteousness, Jesus expounds upon You Shall Not Murder, You Shall Not Commit Adultery, and You Shall Not Give False Testimony by teaching us that violation of the Law involves more than the outward act of murder, adultery, or lying. It also involves the heart. Hatred is murder. Lust is adultery. And every deceptive misleading word is of the Evil One. Jesus’ righteousness, received by faith, covers our sin and brings forth the blessed fruits that are described in the Beatitudes. CP230604