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.

Because of the people’s sin, they forfeited “the land of Israel” during exile, but chapters 40-48 focus on an eschatological restoration. The locale is a “very high mountain,” recalling the descriptions of Sinai (Ex 19:11) or Zion (Is 4:5). The picture here is applied metaphorically and eschatologically to a place suitable for receiving a transcendent vision. Thus, the mount of Transfiguration was “a high mountain” (Mt 17:1; Mk9:2; Lk 9:28), and it was upon “a great and high mountain” that the apostle John was shown the eschatological new Jerusalem (Rev 21:10; see also Is 2:2-4; Micah 4:1-3). 

Christian righteousness is the faith that believes that sins are freely forgiven for Christ’s sake. This is what Jesus is about getting for you when He rode into Jerusalem that Palm Sunday. And this is the righteousness He gives to you today and always, as He rides into this little Zion, faithful New Jerusalem. He comes to help, redeem, pardon, and forgive you. He gives His righteousness to you under water, bread, and wine by His Word. He’s just as humble and lowly today as He was in the prophetic vision of Zechariah and its inspired fulfillment seen by Matthew. And in humility, He is just and righteous, forgiving you your sins. 

The only way that Jesus, “the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,’” is if it’s based on His promise. You are made into sheep as God in Christ chooses you, elects, and predestines you. He clothes you His righteousness, as He baptized you in His name and absolves you of your sin daily. He has prepared salvation for you but also now delivers it to you. 

Ezekiel’s vision is fulfilled in the incarnation of Jesus, the new temple (Ezek 37:26-28; Jn 2:19-22). The temple is the central figure that prefigures the Messiah. Also, the spiritual guide who leads Ezekiel through the vision is the Son of David, the “Prince” (34:24; 37:25). The divine “Glory” who takes up residence in the new temple (43:1-12) is the same manifest in the Word made flesh (Jn 1:14). Thus, chapters 40-48 are relevant for the ongoing liturgical and sacramental worship of the corporate church, the body of Christ. It is through God’s Word and Sacraments that Christ is present with His people already now, and through these means of the Spirit, God fashions Christians into His holy temple (1 Cor 3:16-17). And the ultimate fulfillment of Ezekiel’s vision is in the new heavens and new earth, inaugurated at the second coming of Christ and the bodily resurrection of all believers to eternal life (Isaiah 11 and 65; 2 Pet 3:1-13; Revelation 21–22). 

Jesus has made you His holy bride. He continues to keep you in the faith. He has prepared the feast. The parable should be called the Parable of the Generous Groom. Everything about the brides is given. They are virgins, holy in the forgiveness of sins. They are given lamps and oil for the time until He comes. They wait and watch for Him, trusting in His promise. They die in faith, laid to rest until “midnight.” He sends heralds to cry, “Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!” They all are awakened to life again. And everything He has already given is all they need: the promised wedding, the bath of water and anointing with oil, the white garments of salvation, the food for the journey, the lamp for their feet, and light for their path.

Jesus always keeps His promises. What good would a promise be if He did not keep it? But His suffering and death upon the cross and His rising again on the third day from the dead prove without doubt that He keeps His promises. Marian is forgiven, inheritor of eternal life, safe in the Lord’s keeping, and will be raised on the last day.

Today, Jesus gives you two lovely examples of His authority over life and death. He is the Word that made all things. He is the Word that sustains all things. He is the Word that gives daily bread and delivers from evil, even death. So, the woman who had exhausted all worldly remedies is driven to Jesus for escape from sure death. Jairus, the ruler, is driven to Jesus for resurrection and life for his daughter. Only the one who gives and sustains life, Jesus, can deliver from sickness and death.

The Chronicler sternly warned, “The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place. But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord rose against His people, until there was no remedy” (1 Chr 36:15-16). So, will God treat those who prefer the world and the devil over His Son. He gives a feast for the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation and gives it freely. There is nothing more dangerous than rejecting this (Gal 6:7). The only way to be saved is to be clothed in Christ, wrapped up in the wedding garment of faith, not sewed together by works, but the free gift of God. 

The victory depends not on our faith but on Christ, to whom true faith holds fast. Therefore, a struggling faith, which feels weak, can be much stronger than a faith that feels strong because it relies on its experiences, feelings, and earlier victories (2 Cor 12:9-10). As soon as you take hold of faith, as if it comes by your reason or strength, it is no longer faith. Faith always has an object, someone, or something that you trust. And if it is not in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, it will find another god. If God permits us to fail, then he wants us to learn to rely entirely on Christ. As the Apostle directs us, “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?” (2 Cor 13:5).