Jesus is letting you see that the work of His kingdom given to us in the church is exercised by the office of the Holy Ministry and every Christian as an officeholder in the priesthood of the faithful. We are called to preach, instruct, and apply God’s Holy Word, written for our use in the codex of the books of the Bible. Like Jesus, we are given to speak God’s Word in truth and love to everyone with no thought of what we think it’s going to quote-unquote “work” or whether they’ll like it, receive it, or believe it. 

What is said of the Prince and the people in v. ten can be applied to Jesus Christ and the Christian church. It also has application to the pastor as he leads the congregation in worship. Especially on festival days, traditional Christian worship can begin with a processional into the nave with a cross, representing the presence of Christ, which is then placed in the chancel. Usually, an Introit or entrance hymn is sung near the service's start. During the service, Christ comes to his people through His Word and Sacraments and bestows his gifts of forgiveness, life, and everlasting salvation. After the service, the cross is carried out during a recessional. Christ goes with his people as they leave and perform their vocations during the week. He continues to abide with his people, who have been edified by God's Word and fed in the Holy Supper. In that way, Christ can be said to enter and leave the church with his people.

The keyword is that Jesus says, “The kingdom of heaven is the same as...” He says this describes our whole life, body and spirit, with God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are given to live in this world but not of this world. Our lives are lived now under the meaning of the story. We are given to understand everything in and outside the church according to the truth revealed in this crazy story. God cares for all people according to His good and gracious will. This grace is not comprehensible to reason and flesh, but it is good.

Moses and Elijah, like John the Baptist, all had their given role to play. But once the promised Messiah Christ has come, they must decrease that He increases. Indeed, now that you have Jesus, you can finally escape the past and nostalgia for what once was. Yes, God used those prophets and everyone and everything that has happened for this moment. But this moment can’t be caught in a bottle, any more than you can go back to what was or make any guarantees about what will be. Lift up your eyes and see Jesus only. Hear Him and follow Him wherever He takes you.

All of the five major kinds of sacrifice prescribed in the Torah (Lev 1–7), including the three mentioned here, were part of God’s overarching purpose (fulfilled in Christ): “to make atonement,” sin, and reparation offerings specifically. All the various OT sacrifices and all their specific purposes and promises are fulfilled in the perfect, all-availing sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

The Christian church celebrates on January 18th the Confession of St. Peter. On this day, Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” And we hear the Apostle confess to Jesus, “You are the Christ.” Exactly right! Jesus is the Christ, or if you prefer, in Hebrew, the Messiah, or simply the Anointed One. This refers to the anointing of oil God prescribed for priests, prophets, and kings. And Jesus fills all those offices and fulfills them, too. 

The NT fulfillment is also accomplished through the Sacrament of Christian Baptism, the antitype of circumcision (Col 2:11-13). Through baptismal incorporation into Christ, the division between Israelite and (Gentile) foreigner is overcome so that both, as baptized believers, may approach God in holiness as his justified children (e.g., Acts 2:38-39; Gal 3:26-29; Eph 2:11-22; 4:5). The prohibition here of access to the temple by the uncircumcised may be compared to the eschatological banishment of unbelievers from the new Jerusalem in the eternal state in Rev 22:15.

Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

“The eighth day” would be the first day of a new week. In biblical usage, this day can indicate a new creation, the start of a new era in God’s work of redemption. Thus, circumcision took place on “the eighth day” (Lev 12:3; Gen 17:-14), that is, the same day as the birth but in the next week, and circumcision marked the entrance of the infant into God’s gracious covenant and kingdom. The corresponding NT sacrament is Baptism, through which one is buried and raised with Christ so that anyone in Christ is a new creation (Rom 6:1-4; 2 Cor 5:17; Col 2:11-13). Of course, Christ’s resurrection took place on the first day of the new week (Mt 28:1), thus indicating a new era of salvation through faith in His accomplished work, and this “eighth” day, our Sunday, became the traditional “Sabbath” for Christian worship (Jn 20:19; Acts 20:7; Rev 1:10).

The Lord’s Christ, the Consolation of Israel, and the redemption of Jerusalem, Jesus, comes to you today in Word and Supper. The Spirit is upon you that you would receive Him as He comes. You have not seen death before you have seen your Savior. One of our teachers remarked, “When we go to the Lord’s Supper, we go to our death. And when we go to our death, we go to the Lord’s Supper.” Your eyes have seen and will receive again your salvation in Christ’s body and blood, given and shed for you. This table is prepared for you in the presence of your enemies, before the face of all peoples. May Christ’s visitation today for you in Divine Service bring you the revelation of His grace and mercy and glory for you, His restored Israel. Amen.

Every word of the Bible should be read as though it were written with the ink of the blood of Jesus. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. What a glorious thing this is! By becoming man, Jesus assumes everything you are—your body, your spirit, your soul, your emotions, your vocation. He even redeems your pain, loss, suffering, and grief. What a wonderful thing that everything you are except sin, says Hebrews. Everything you are has been assumed by Jesus in the Incarnation and redeemed by Him. The word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have beheld his glory full of grace and truth for you today.

The shepherds proclaimed what the Lord had done. Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart, later delivering them to St. Luke so that we, too, would hear and believe. So, all of it: the message of the Angel, the song of the heavenly host, the sign of the promise, and the promise Himself, Jesus, is given today for you, too. It all rings out in your ears, that you would hear, come, and see. Now, He wrapped up for you in bread and wine, but is the same Savior given to save you.

My brothers and sisters, as we ponder this mystery again, we are invited to also embrace the divine reversal, recognizing that in our lowly estates, we, too, are recipients of the angelic proclamation. The God who chose shepherds on the outskirts and the Magi from distant lands chooses us to partake in His grand narrative of rescue and respite. 

God’s good calling to every father is to teach the faith, defend, protect, love, and show mercy to the children entrusted to him. At first glance, it may seem as if Joseph’s role is second-fiddle to Mary, the mother of God, and her Son, Jesus Christ. But there is no bit part within the Christmas story. He is the noble defender, bold confessor, and sacred protector of woman and child that Jesus be given to us. From him, we learn that everyone is given vocations by God by which the Word made flesh, Jesus, is given, preserved, and protected. All of you are knit together into one holy communion, the mystical body of Christ, joined in love for love. May God illuminate your hearts with the gracious visitation of Jesus, reveal to you by His angels what He would have you do, and give you the Spirit to strengthen you in your sacred calling to confess Jesus.

Ezekiel is commanded to “narrate, preach” the temple. In part, it connects the sanctuary’s structure with the history of salvation, of which it is a part. All its laws, including cultic ones, are subordinated to the narrative of creation and redemption, meaningful as they contribute to the proclamation and sacramental distribution of the Gospel: justification, the forgiveness of sins, and life everlasting, all furnished as God’s free gifts because of the atonement of Jesus Christ. The “backspin” is that eyes are opened to the extent that idolatrous “spirituality” had been a sacrilege. Thus, Law-Gospel preached together.

Behind our doubts lies a desire to avoid the issues, a refusal to come to grips with the things that must be done away with if Jesus is to be followed. “Behold, I come to make all things new!” Things must become different. Jesus comes to change your life today and always. The Word that made all things in the beginning, sustains all things now, and also comes to renew, restore, and resurrect you now. Faith receives this life-changing Word, but doubts lead to unbelief, rejection, and death.

This section follows the theology that informed the Tabernacle and Solomonic temple. Most relevant texts are Ex 26:1–31:11; 36:8–39:43; and 1 Ki 6:1-38; 7:13-51. Ezekiel’s variations and omissions intensify the structures' purpose and correct the abuses that had crept in under apostate and syncretistic kings and priests. The decorative features (cherubim, palms, etc.) suggest a “paradise restored” ambiance. Because it was God’s earthly “house” and “dwelling place,” it was the focal point of His redemptive activity until that goal was realized in Christ and then in the eschaton (Rev 21–22). It is the heart of the Gospel that in Christ that goal was reached when “the Word became flesh and tabernacles among us” (Jn 1:14), and by His life, death, and resurrection opened the gates of paradise (Mt 28:20).

Listen to Jesus, hold tight to the promises of His Word, and receive Him as His promises to come. He says, “I made you by a Word, knitting you in your mother’s womb. I made you God’s child in the washing of Baptism. I sustain you day to day with daily bread. I forgave you by suffering and dying for you. I defeated death and raised you to live through my resurrection. I keep forgiving you by my body and blood under bread and wine. I encourage you daily by the Bread from Heaven, my Word proclaimed and taught. I come to you, even now, so that you may never fear.” 

While Zechariah was rendered mute for his unbelief of the angel’s words, it was at his direction to name the child “John” that his lips were loosed to sing the praises of God. With John’s birth and naming, he begins his work as his father’s heart is turned in repentant faith to recognize what God has begun to accomplish. This preparatory task of Advent and John the Baptist is seen even in his leaping as an unborn child over the presence of the Lord. John is the “new Elijah,” tasked with testifying to the Christ. Thus, we pray that we, too, would receive John’s call to repentance and follow in the Savior’s way of forgiveness and life.