Sermons from the Divine Service

The Lord Feeds His People. The Lord provided bread from heaven for His people in the wilderness (Exodus 16:2–21). Now He who is Himself the living bread from heaven miraculously provides bread for the five thousand (John 6:1–15). This takes place near the time of the Passover, after a great multitude had followed Jesus across the sea, and when He went up on a mountain. Seen in this way, Jesus is our new and greater Moses, who relea...

Jesus Overcomes the Strong Man. Our Lord Jesus is accused of doing evil when in fact He is doing good. He casts out a demon from a mute man so that he is able to speak (Luke 11:14–28). But some said Jesus did this by the power of Beelzebub, Satan. Like Pharaoh of old, their hearts were hard (Exodus 8:16–24). They did not recognize the finger of God, the power of the Holy Spirit at work in and through Jesus. Jesus is the Stronger Ma...

Holding God to His Word. Jacob wrestled with God; he would not let Him go until he received a blessing from Him (Genesis 32:22–32). So it was with the Canaanite woman. Though Jesus seemed to ignore and reject her, she continued to call upon His name and look to Him for help (Matthew 15:21–28). Even when the Lord called her a little dog, she held on to Him in faith and would not let Him wriggle out of His words: “Yes, Lord, yet even...

Jesus Does Battle in Our Place. In the Garden, man exalts himself to be a god in place of God (Genesis 3:1–21). He succumbs to the temptation of the devil, and eating of the forbidden fruit, he receives death. But in the sin-cursed wilderness, God humbles Himself to become man in place of man (Matthew 4:1–11). He does not eat but fasts and bears the onslaughts of the devil for us that we may be restored to life. Jesus stands in our...

Faith Alone. The seeing are blind, while the one who is blind can see (Luke 18:31–43). Jesus tells the twelve that He is going up to Jerusalem to suffer and die and rise again, but they cannot understand or grasp what He is saying. The meaning of His words is hidden from their sight. However, as Jesus makes His way up to Jerusalem, a blind man calls out to Him for mercy. This blind man sees that Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior, fo...

Scripture Alone. The Sower sows the seed of His Word (Luke 8:4–15). But the planting of Christ is attacked by the devil, the world, and the flesh. Satan snatches the Word away from hard hearts. The riches and pleasures of this life choke off faith. Shallow and emotional belief withers in time of temptation and trouble. But see how Christ bears this attack for us! Christ’s cross was planted in the hard and rocky soil of Golgotha. A ...

Grace Alone. The people of Israel departed from the Lord’s provision for them. They were dissatisfied with His provision, and so were sent away from the promised land into exile (Daniel 9:2-10). In the same way, the first laborers in the vineyard complained against the landowner for the wage he provided them (Matthew 20:1–16). They charged him with being unfair, but in reality he was being generous. For the Lord does not wish to de...

Jesus Is Transfigured and Manifests His Glory. The Lord appeared to Moses in the light of the burning bush (Exodus 3:1–14). Later Moses’ face would shine with the light of God’s glory when he came down from Mount Sinai (Exodus 34:29–35). At the Transfiguration, Moses and Elijah appeared with the One who is the Light of Light Himself (Matthew 17:1–9). Jesus’ glory as God shines with brilliant splendor in and through His human nature...

Jesus’ First Miracle Reveals God’s Glory. The coming of the Messianic kingdom means the restoration of creation. The sign of this restoration is that “the mountains shall drip sweet wine” (Amos 9:11–15). When the elements of a fallen creation fail and run short at a wedding feast, our Lord Jesus steps in to restore creation and miraculously changes water into an abundance of the very best wine (John 2:1–11). With this sign, Christ ...

In His Baptism, Jesus Takes His Place with Sinners. Our Lord Jesus is baptized “to fulfill all righteousness” (Matt. 3:13–17). He partakes of a baptism for sinners in order that He might be our substitute and bear the judgment we deserve. In the water, Jesus trades places with us. Our sin becomes His sin. His righteousness becomes our righteousness. Our glory, therefore, is in “Christ Jesus, who became to us . . . righteousness and...

The Lord God Is Manifested in the Incarnate Son. The Feast of the Epiphany centers in the visit of the Magi from the East. In that respect, it is a “Thirteenth Day” of Christmas; and yet, it also marks the beginning of a new liturgical season. While Christmas has focused on the Incarnation of our Lord—that is, on God becoming flesh—the season of Epiphany emphasizes the manifestation or self-revelation of God in that same flesh of C...

The Seed of David Comes to His Temple. The Lord foretold that He would make a new covenant with His people: “I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people” (Jeremiah 31:33). In the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son Jesus to redeem us from the judgment of the Law (Galatians 4:1–7). Now He is presented in the temple in fulfillment of the Law and revealed to...

John the Baptizer Points Everyone to the Messiah. The coming of God in all His unveiled power at Mount Sinai was terrifying to the people of Israel. The thundering voice of the Lord puts sinners in fear of death (Deut. 18:15–19). God, therefore, raised up a prophet like Moses—the Messiah, the Christ. God came to His people veiled in human flesh. The skies poured down the Righteous One from heaven; the earth opened her womb and brou...

John the Baptizer Prepares the Way for the Lord. The voice of the Baptizer cried out in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord . . .” (Isaiah 40:1). John called the people to be made ready for the Messiah’s coming through repentance, for “all flesh is grass” (Isaiah 40:6). Now He asks from prison, “Are you the one who is to come . . .?” (Matthew 11:2). Jesus’ works bear witness that He is. The sick are made well; the dead are...

The Lord Comes on the Last Day. The day on which our Lord returns will be a “great and awesome day” (Mal. 4:5). For He will come in a cloud with great power and glory. To the wicked and the proud, it will be a Day of judgment that will “set them ablaze” (Mal. 4:1). The signs preceding this Day will bring them fear and fainting. But to those who believe, who fear the name of the Lord, this Day is one to look forward to and rejoice i...

The Lord Jesus Comes in Humility to Redeem Us. The new Church Year begins by focusing on the humble coming of our Lord. “Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey”(Matthew 21:5). Even as He was born in a lowly manger, so Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a beast of burden. For He bears the sin of the world. He is the Son of David riding to His enthronement on the cross, where He shows Himself to be “The LORD i...

By Faith We Are Prepared for Christ’s Return. “The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:1–11). The arrival of the bridegroom will be sudden and unexpected. Therefore you are to be watchful and ready like the five wise virgins. “For you know neither the day nor the hour” when the Son of Man is to return (Mathew. 25:1–13). The lamps are the Word of Christ. The oil in the lamps is the Holy Spirit, wh...