LESSON: ROMANS 3:21-26

He saved us, not because of deeds done by us in righteousness, but in virtue of his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit, which he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that we might be justified by his grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life. Titus 3:5-7

We should never place our confidence in the doctrine of men and the holy fathers. God has given us many examples to teach us not to build on men or to put our confidence in men.

Even the saints make mistakes. We read that, something like eighteen years after the ascension of Christ (Acts 15), the apostles and the group of those who were Christian came together in Jerusalem. The question to be decided was: Should one compel the Gentiles coming into the church to be circumcised? Some of the leaders of the party of the Pharisees who had become believers came forward and said that the Gentiles should be circumcised and ordered to keep the law of Moses. Much strife ensued and many were in danger of accepting this viewpoint.

Peter, Paul, Barnabas, and James opposed this suggestion. Peter in particular said: God has given His Holy Spirit to the Gentiles, who received the Gospel by my mouth, just as He did to us, and made no difference between them and us but cleansed their hearts by faith. If then, they received the Holy Spirit without being circumcised, why do you want to bind them in addition and impose a yoke on their necks which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? We believe that we shall be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, just as they will. Acts 15:7-11

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AE 76, 206

PRAYER: We thank you, Lord, for the gift of full and free justification in Jesus Christ, our Savior. Grant us at all times fully to understand and appreciate all that you have done for us in your Son. Keep us always fully reliant on your grace in Christ, for Christ’s sake. Amen.

LESSON: JOHN 8:31-33

Sanctify them in the truth; thy word is truth. John 17:17

This Gospel (Luke 2:41-52) is a very telling blow against all doctrine and consolation and whatever else might be named that is not the Word of God and does not flow from the Word.

You can now say: I don’t care what happens; exalt reason and the light of nature as high as you want to, I still reserve my right not to entrust myself to it. I grant that councils and pope have made decisions, and that the holy fathers have taught in accordance with their will, but I do not rely on such decisions. If they grant me this, we will soon be one. I will retain my freedom and they can decide and set up whatever they will, but let me say, “If it pleases me, I accept it; but I do not accept it as though I were doing something precious thereby.”

They will not grant this, for it will never satisfy them that such procedure should be a matter of freedom. They always look for the addition that one should rest one’s confidence on these decisions and derive consolation from them just as though one were trusting Christ and the Holy Spirit in this whole matter. We must never abide this false delusion and confidence which they try to inculcate, namely, that it is a good work to accept their decisions and a sin to reject them.

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PRAYER: Thanks and praise be to you, dear Father in heaven, for giving us the precious gift of your holy Word, in which you have revealed all that a man should know for his salvation in and through Christ our Savior. Amen.

LESSON: PSALM 119:97-104

And he said to them, “How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house? Luke 2:49

I have often said, and I say it again, that nothing should be preached in Christendom but the pure Word of God. This Gospel (Luke 2:41-52), in stating that they could not find Jesus “among their kinsfolk and acquaintances,” also reminds us of this.

It is no good saying that one must believe what the church councils have decided, or what Jerome, Augustine, and other holy fathers have written. One must point to a definite place where Christ can be found and none other, namely, the place which He Himself indicates when He says, “I must be in my Father’s house.” One will find Him nowhere else than in God’s Word.

One should not receive what the holy fathers teach in such a way that one trusts it with one’s whole conscience and seeks comfort in it. If someone therefore asks you, “Shall I not trust the holy fathers?”, you can answer: Christ did not suffer Himself to be found among His kinsfolk and acquaintances.

It would be a good thing for us Christians to take good note of this example from this Gospel and make a kind of proverb out of it to be used against all doctrine which is not God’s Word.

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AE 76, 199

PRAYER: Your Word, O Lord, is the rock of our salvation because it points us to Christ our one and only Savior. We thank you, Lord, for all the comfort and consolation in Jesus Christ, which you have so freely conferred upon us through your Word. Amen.

LESSON: PSALM 94:12-15

My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor lose courage when you are punished by him. For the Lord disciplines him who he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives. Hebrews 12:5,6

Trials, chastenings, and temptations come upon us so that our faith may be exercised and become stronger and stronger. God especially arranges matters in this way to preserve His children from the kinds of misfortune which might otherwise come upon us.

When men become boldly confident and very strong in spirit they could eventually have such confidence in themselves that they think they are capable of accomplishing everything in their own strength and power. God sometimes allows their faith to be found wanting, and to suffer an eclipse, so that they may realize who they are and say, “Even if I want to believe, I cannot.” In this way God humbles His saints and holds them to their own knowledge.

Nature and reason are always keen on falling upon God’s gifts and clinging to them as though they were attainable by man’s own abilities. God must deal with us in such a way that we realize that He must put faith into our hearts. We have no way of influencing Him to do this.

Fear of God and confidence in God must always be closely related for us. Both of these relationships must remain decisive for our lives, so that a man does not become presumptuous and too secure, and eventually come to rely upon himself. This is one reason why God allows temptations to come upon His saints.

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AE 76,

PRAYER: Lord God, our loving, heavenly Father, we know that all things, even trials and temptations, work together for our good. Bring us safely through all trials and temptations, thus strengthening our faith as your children in and through Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.

LESSON: JAMES 1:12-15

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed but not driven to despair. 2 Corinthians 4:8

When God has given us a fine, strong faith so that we go forth in firm confidence, and are quite sure and certain that we have a gracious God on whom we can fully rely, we are in paradise. But when God suffers our heart to slip away from us, so that we come to think that God wants to tear the Lord Jesus from our hearts, and our conscience feels that we have lost Him, and then flounders and loses courage, so that our confidence sinks, the result is wretched distress.

Even if our conscience cannot recall any particular sins it is still in such wretched condition that it thinks, “Who knows if God really wants me?” just as Mary begins to have her doubts (Luke 2:41-51), so that she no longer knows whether God still wants her as a mother. When the heart receives such blows it is inclined to say, “It is true that hitherto God has given you a fine faith; but perhaps He wants to take your faith from you and no longer have you.” It requires a strong faith to withstand such knocks, and there are not many whom God assails in this way. But we must prepare ourselves so that we do not despair if this should happen to us.

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AE 76,

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, strengthen our faith through your Word and Sacraments, that we may successfully overcome all trials and temptations we may meet in life, and stand firm and steadfast in the confidence that we are always more than conquerors in and through Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.

LESSON: LUKE 2:41-52

When they saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, you father and I have been looking for you anxiously.” Luke 2:48

Although the holy mother Mary who was blessed (Luke 1:42) and highly-favored with all kinds of grace (Luke 1:28) without a doubt found the greatest of happiness and joy in her child, the Lord still governed her in such a way that she should not have her paradise in Him and reserve it for her future life, as He does also in the case of others. And so on earth she also had to suffer her share of misfortune, pain, and sorrow.

The first distress that came upon her was that she had to give birth at Bethlehem, a strange place, in which there was no room for herself and her child except in a stable. Soon after this, when the time of her purification was past (Luke 2:22), she had to flee with her child into a foreign country, into Egypt, a small comfort for her under the circumstances. She probably experienced many blows of the same kind which have not been recorded.

Here, too, the Lord laid a similar misfortune upon her when her Son stole off into the temple and she had to search for Him for so long without finding Him. This gave her a terrible shock and grieved her so much that she exclaimed: “Behold, your father and I have been looking for you anxiously.” We can well imagine that her heart was ready to admit, “The child is mine alone, as I well know. God gave Him to me with instructions that I should look after Him. How has it come to pass that I have lost Him? It is my fault for failing to look after Him well enough.”

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AE 76,192

PRAYER: O Lord, you have clearly told us in your Word that you chasten all whom you love for the betterment and well-being. You did not even spare your handmaiden, Mary. Let us not despair when your chastening comes upon us, but open the eyes of our faith so that we may also readily see “the way of escape” [1 Corinthians 10:13] that we may be able to bear it. Amen.

LESSON: PSALM 97

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Philippians 4:4

When the Sacrament is used properly, the conscience is not tormented, but comforted and lightened by the joy of faith. For God did not give us the Sacrament as a poison or an instrument of torture, so that one should be terrified by it. This is what happened to us when we were taught the very unskilled doctrine that in the mass we offered our own piety as a sacrifice to God, and lost the real meaning of the Sacrament, namely, that it contained for us words of comfort and salvation, to strengthen our conscience, to refresh us, to make us joyful and to free us from all misfortunes.

This is how one should regard the Sacrament, a source of the sweetest grace, consolation, and life. It is poison and death for those who rush into it in a brazen manner, without feeling any kind of weakness, shortcoming, or need which should impel them to seek the Sacrament, and who act as though they were previously quite pure and pious The Sacrament is for those who recognize their shortcomings and failings, who know in themselves that they are far from perfect piety, but who have the keen desire to improve.

So much depends here on the recognition of our real condition and our real needs, for we are all subject to weaknesses and are sinners, but we do not all confess this. This is enough about preparation for the Sacrament and strengthening our faith through the words of the Sacrament, that we here receive Christ’s body and blood, given and shed for us for the forgiveness of sins. Through these words the benefit, fruit, and practice of the Sacrament are adequately indicated and expressed, as far as we are to make use of it for ourselves.

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PRAYER: Heavenly Father, refresh us, strengthen us in body and soul, and make us really joyful Christians in the use of your Holy Supper, for Christ’s sake. Amen.

LESSON: MATTHEW 2:1-12

Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. Isaiah 60:1

The admonition to “arise” is without doubt spoken to one who has not arisen, that is, to one who is lying asleep, or is dead. I think St. Paul had this passage in mind when he said in Ephesians, “It is said, ‘Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light.’” Ephesians 5:14.

Without doubt Christ is the “light” of which Isaiah speaks here, the light which through the Gospel shines forth throughout the whole world and gives light to all men who arise and desire Him.

But who are these sleepers and dead men? Without a doubt they are all those who are in subjection under the Law, for they are all dead through sin. They also include those who are dead, who disregard the Law and live a free life without the restraints of the Law.

The work-righteous are the sleepers who do not feel any shortcomings at all. Neither of these two groups pays much attention to the Gospel. They keep on in their sleep and a life which is nothing but death. The Spirit must awaken them so that they see and recognize the light.

There is a third group who feel the Law biting their conscience; they also long for grace and sigh for the Gospel; they also see to it that the Gospel comes and is given to men; they proclaim it, like Isaiah, to awake the sleepers and those who are dead so that they may accept the light.

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PRAYER: Shine in our hearts, O Lord, with true Epiphany light, that we, through this light, may at all times be a true light in this world to all our fellowmen. Amen.