Clothed In White, With The Palm Of Victory In Her Hand

The following 'Visitation and Prayer Service Sermon' is posted with family permission.  May the Lord give to the family of Ashley Ann Anderson, and all who mourn, comfort in their grief and a sure confidence in the Lord's loving care.  To listen to the 'Funeral Service Sermon,' CLICK HERE.

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Ashley Anderson:
Born a Child of Man on August 12, 1987,
Asleep in Jesus on March 17, 2015

In tonight’s reading from the New Testament book of Revelation, we heard about a great multitude from every nation, from all tribes and all people and all languages.  There they are, standing before the throne and before Jesus—the Lamb of God who has taken away the sin of the world.  This vast crowd does not stand empty handed or in with ordinary attire, but they stand clothed in white, with the palm of victory in their hands, as they sing a song that ascribes their salvation solely to their God and to the Lamb.

These faithfully departed Saints know they have nothing to boast of on their own.  Why would they, for they have only been given to.  They know that their robes are white only because they have been washed in the blood of the Lamb - because the Lamb, Jesus, bled and died to redeem them and set them free to stand before the throne holy and pure.

Furthermore, these blessed departed Saints are always there, day and night, never departing from God’s presence, delighting to offer him an endless worship of praise...

They live in God’s temple - protected from all harm and danger.  In that act of awesome gentleness, He reaches out His nail-scared hand to wipe away every tear from their eyes.  Their sorrows are gone.  No pain.  No suffering.  No anguish.  They have eternal joy.

Just to ensure that we are all on the same page thus far, who are these people that are portrayed in our Reading from Revelation?  Who are these people seen in this vision of heaven?  They are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation, or the great sorrow.  These are people like you and me:  People who have had their share of heart-ache and pain; people who sometimes had to struggle day by day just to hang on and keep going; people for whom faith never came easy.  They are people who struggled to trust in the Lord and to believe that in the midst of their troubles, the Lord was still there and still in control and still loving them… Who are they?  Well, among them are those that you have known and loved; fellow sinners who were baptized into the name of the Lord.  They are fellow sinners declared righteous for Christ’s sake.  They are fellow sinners who put their hope in Jesus’ words.  They are fellow sinners who have gone before us and died. They are people like Ashley.  They are people like Ashley who died in Christ’s care.  That’s who they are.  They’re the Church, that bunch of forgiven sinners whom Christ has already gathered to Himself.

With that said, what do we make of the rest of us in the here and now?  Yes, you and I sitting right here and right now?  You and I are those who are in this vale of tears.  We are the Church that struggles still. 

If this is the case, does this mean that there are two churches?  Is there a church on the earth and a church in heaven?  No, we are not two churches:  we’re one Church, one communion.  Otherwise stated, there are not two churches: one in heaven and one on the earth.  We do not have two Lords, but one Lord.  Christ Jesus does not have two brides, but one.  We are baptized into one name; those who are in the vale of tears and those who are with the Lord, yet all of us belonging to the Lord.

 

The reality that there is one church can be a big comfort and encouragement for us.  When we gather for worship on Sundays, it’s not just those of us in the room that are gathered together.  Oh, no!  If we only had the eyes to see it, we would discover that we never gather with less than a few million at a time.

Listen to what Hebrews says of this One Church: 

“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. (Heb 12:22-24).”

You have come to all this, the sacred writer reminds the people.  So when we gather for worship here on Sundays or in your churches across the South East of North Dakota, it’s never just you in the sanctuary.  It’s also the angels in heaven, the spirits of just men and women made perfect, that is, the saints in heaven with their blood-washed white robes—saints like Ashley—and most of all Jesus with His blood, that established the new covenant of forgiveness

We’re always a mega-church when we’re at worship.  And the song of those that triumph, the voice of them that feast, gives us the courage and strength to go on, and muddle through, and know that in the end, our God will take us out of the great sorrow and bring us into eternal sunshine, when we will see with our eyes those who have gone before us, those like Ashley, and we will lift our voices in song with their voices forever.

So tonight and tomorrow we’re not just remembering those who died in the faith, like Ashley.  We’re worshipping with them.  At the same throne.  Before the same Lord...  Surrounded by the same angels.  Clothed in the same righteousness of Jesus.

We can’t see them with the eyes of the body yet, but that’s only because our vision is so poor.  It’s a reality none the less.  Together with them, together with Ashley, we cry out:

"Salvation to our God who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb!" 

Painting by Stephen C. Dawson

Indeed, this evening we remember Ashley, while “trusting in that forgiveness won on Mt. Calvary by the Lamb who was slain. [We remember that] it is He, [Christ Jesus,] who is our judge, He who answered for our sins on Calvary. What Christ did is given us as ours, His death for us, His life for us, and so we are forgiven and righteous with His righteousness, holy, saints. That is all ours from the Lamb, and the Lamb who is our judge cannot deny Himself or what is ours from Him… We are justified by grace through faith for the Lamb’s sake”[1] just as Ashley was and is.

May the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Note: This sermon is indebted to Rev. Bill Weedon's "All Saints Day Sermon."

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[1] Excerpted from Norman Nagel’s All Saints’ Day sermon preached at Valparaiso University on November 1, 1981 by the Reverend Dr. Norman Nagel “Selected Sermons of Norman Nagel,” pp. 315-16.

It Isn't About Entertainment Or Spiritual Jumping Jacks, But About Hearing The Lord's Word

2015 Zion Lutheran Lent Series

God's Ten Word's - For You

Part 2 of 6 

Texts:  Exodus 20:1-17 and Hebrew 4:1-16

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Last week we began the Season of Lent.  As it was mentioned, the Season of Lent is an extended period of time, during the calendar year of the church, where we pause and reflect.  It is a time for us to take a step back from the busyness of life and consider our place before almighty God.  This happens as we move towards Holy Week and Resurrection Sunday. 

In order to consider our place before the Lord, it was also mentioned last week that we are examining over the next month and a half, the perfect, divine, and holy will of God for us as expressed in the Ten Commandments.  Yes, through the Law of the Lord we are not only instructed on what is good and true, but we are also convicted of our sin and driven to despair.  Otherwise stated, as we contemplate our sinfulness this Lent Season through studying God’s Law, we do so knowing that we are traveling towards the cross of Good Friday where our sin finds its home not on us, but on Christ.

Tonight we are focusing specifically on God’s design for life as expressed in the Third Commandment.  The Third Commandment states,

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping in holy.” 

In other words,

“You are to hallow the day of rest.”
 

Now, too often this Third commandment is misunderstood by those outside and even inside the church.  Truly, we fool ourselves when we think the Third Commandment is speaking only about a certain day of the week when we have church, or that it is speaking only about not doing any physical work at all on the Lord ’s Day, or that it is speaking only about the day of the week which the old Blue Laws didn’t allow businesses to be open on Sundays.  Otherwise stated, each of us knows that we need physical rest at least one day a week; our bodies need to be refreshed.  But rest is not the main point of the Third Commandment.  Each of us understands that Sundays are typically ‘church days’, but that is not the main point of the Third Commandment.  So, what is the main point of the Third Commandment?  The main focus is really on God’s Word, His Word for you and for me.

Every day is intended for hearing God’s Word; it isn’t limited to just Sundays.  And every day is holy because God’s Word makes every day holy.  But we also set aside certain days, mainly Sundays for the purpose of hearing God’s Word.  We do this so that everyone may have the time and opportunity to attend public worship.  And that’s the main point of the Third Commandment.  It teaches us that worship is ultimately about hearing and learning God’s Word, receiving His gifts of life and salvation.

We need to really hear this in our day and age, especially when churches have become so completely radicalized in our country.  These days some of what passes for “worship” is little more than low-budget entertainment.  Some so called “worship services” in our time only seek to alter moods or get people fired up for some reason or another.  This unfortunately puts the focus on our reactions, our emotions, and our thoughts.

And this mind set is not only “out there in radicalized churches,” but it is also right here, in our hearts and our heads.  We too have something of these thoughts and desires of entertainment within us.  We want to be wowed.  We want to be impressed.  We want to feel a particular feeling. Our time is valuable, so we want each minute to count and to impress us.

Think about this for a moment…in our spare time we try to find some way to entertain ourselves and alter our mood, to forget about everything else for a little while.  When we are off of work and rest, we want the television to hold our entertainment, make us laugh, and give us that escape from the mundane of life.  We avoid boredom like the plague.  We especially want this of our weekends! 

So when it comes to Sunday morning, those ideas of entertainment are still bouncing around in our head and sometimes we begin to desire the same kind of thing in the Sunday Morning Divine Service.  When we consciously and subconsciously do this, we put the focus on what we feel and desire instead of on what God has to give us in His Word.  If a song doesn’t move us, if a sermon does not give us a tingly, and if we are not kept engaged, we cry foul.  “This is not entertaining!”  We then determine that we would’ve been better off staying home to watch the Kardashions, or Face The Nation, or the NFL Pre-Game Show, or Sunday morning reruns of The Wheel of Fortune on the Gameshow Network. 

   

My friends, when it comes to the Third Commandment, it is most certainly about us stopping our work and the elimination of our entertainment agendas, so that we can simply listen to God’s Word.  You see, our Sunday Morning Divine Service and Wednesday Night Services are all about hearing the Word and receiving the Sacrament, these are the times for us to stop thinking about our quest for distraction and entertainment as being most important and instead focus on the work God is doing to and for us in His Word.

What this all means is that we keep the Sabbath day holy by stopping our efforts and by receiving God’s efforts as He works for us.  The Sabbath, the worship service is not about what you can do for Jesus, it’s about God’s Word and what it tells you your Savior has done and is doing for you.  The Divine Service on Sundays is not mainly about us speaking to God in worship in order to summon His presence and offer Him praise so that we can impress Him and obtain kudo points.  This view sees God as the audience of our worship.  This way sees us as the ones coming before God and doing all sorts of spiritual jumping jacks and spiritual work in order to get the Lord to notice us and then hopefully respond to us with kudos.  Christian worship is the exact opposite my friends.  God is the speaker.  We are the audience.  He calls us before Him so that He might give His Gifts to us.  

This is why God wants you to hold preaching and His Word sacred.  This is why you are to gladly hear and learn it.  There is nothing sweeter than gathering around God’s Word and being fed with the forgiveness of our sins as we listen with our ears.

God forgive us for attempting to make the Sunday Morning Divine Service into something that it is not.  God forgive us for our laziness, those times where we convince ourselves that we really don’t need to hear the Word of God.  God forgive us for those times where we sleep in or simply attend to something else that we believe has a bigger importance than hearing from the Lord.  God forgive us for our failure to simply hear, that is to say, listen to the Word and receive the gifts from the Altar. 

Baptized Saints, hear the Word of God for you and for me now.  You are forgiven; Christ Jesus was crucified—for you.  Yes, you who have ears, hear.  St. Paul says in Romans that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”  That means, faith doesn’t come by what we do or how much we do.  Faith doesn’t come by how you feel or whether you are entertained.  Saving faith doesn’t come by sermons on religious living or how to lose weight with Jesus, or how to have a stress free life.  Faith comes in only one way: by hearing the Word of God and the clear message of Christ crucified for the forgiveness of the world.  Thus, hear again, God’s Word, His promise to and for you.  You are forgiven for Christ’s sake! Be of good cheer, the good news of Mt. Calvary is for you.

This very listening to God’s Word—hearing about the forgiveness of your sins—is the greatest privilege and work we can do as Christians.  When you listen, learn, take to heart and inwardly digest and retain the message of Jesus you hear in this place, God is more pleased than if you were to build the greatest church ever built.  Listening and taking His word to heart is the greatest involvement any Christian could have in the worship service.

God’s design for life is a life with His Word. It’s a life of listening to Him and what He does for us in His Son.  It is a life that is captive to the Word of God.  It is a life receiving constantly from the    Word of God.  It is a life that is fed, shaped, and formed from the Word. 

God’s Word will never return to Him empty, it will accomplish what He desires.  And what He desires is your forgiveness, life, and salvation.

This is what the Third Commandment is all about.  It is about guarding and protecting the Word of God, the Word that is given to you and to me.

Baptized Saints, listen: You are forgiven for Christ’s sake. 

Baptized Saints, pause: You are forgiven for Christ’s sake.

Baptized Saints, rest:  you are forgiven for Christ’s sake.

May the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Note: This sermon is highly indebted to Pastor Joshua Reimche of Our Savior Lutheran Church and Martin Luther's Large Catechism. 

The Full Assurance of Hope: Christ As Priest

Text:  Hebrews 10:1-18

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

It might seem strange and even offensive to us as modern readers, but the people of the Old Testament worshiped, praised, and received from the Lord God through a sacrificial system.  Yes, as we page through the Old Testament we see these somewhat foreign practices, practices such as: burnt offerings, grain offerings, peace offerings, sin offerings, guilt offerings, and so forth.  All of these strange rituals were basically the sacrifices and offerings of: bulls, goats, sheep, turtledoves, flour with olive oil, grains, and even pigeons.

But more specifically, what were these sacrifices and offerings like?

Imagine the combination of a church, a slaughterhouse, and an open-air kitchen with a butcher slash pastor working in the midst.[1]  This very interesting combination was not a creative arrangement for a reality television show, but the way that the Lord had orchestrated to slaughter animals and prepare them as food for the people while worship happened.  Truly, these rituals took place in the midst of the people of Israel and were conducted by priests.  That is how it was in the Old Testament times, especially as we see it in the book of Leviticus. 

By the way of example, during the Old Testament times, people would bring an animal, such as a bull, sheep, or goat, and the animal would stand calmly before the priest, that is until the priest would place his hands upon the animal confessing the sins of the people upon the animal.  After the sins were transferred upon the animal through confession, the priest would nimbly swing the blade through the animal, thus killing it on behalf and for the people’s sins.  Surely, the innocent animal was killed in the place of another and the blood of the animal interceded life for the guilty. 

Keep in mind that these sacrifices were not to be food of God and they were not some sort of gift given to God to woo Him—to make Him dance—but rather it was a sacrifice that visibly demonstrated that sin was and is serious business.  The sacrifice showed how sin was placed on an innocent and clean animal—an animal that would die in the place of sinful people.  It was a life given into death for the sake of making payment for sin.

All that being said, in most cases, the animal that was sacrificed was actually prepared and given to the people for meals, much like a modern day congregational barbeque.   

Now, the reason why we are contemplating this tonight is that we are focusing on the role of the Old Testament priest.  The Old Testament priest was a prominent role in the Old Testament because priests functioned as a representative of the people when they offered gifts of sacrifice for sins on behalf of the people in relation to God.  Priests, like Aaron, continually offered up goats as a substitute, so that through these means the forgiveness of sins could be distributed to the people.

That’s right; through the sacrifices the Lord did deliver relief to the Old Testament people.  Their sins were forgiven on the basis of God’s Word attached to these Old Testament sacrifices, sacrifices that functioned like sacraments.  These sacrifices not only showed how a sinful people could approach a holy God, but as previously mentioned they were a way that the Lord expiated the sin of the people; they were the way that the Lord delivered the people relief and absolution for their sins.

So, why do we not continue to have these same Old Testament sacrifices today?  Should we do a remodel of our sanctuary to add a kitchen next to the altar?  Where do we put the butcher block; shall we move the pulpit?  Do I as a pastor need to go to butchery school or hone in my meat skills from when I worked at the Walmart Meat Department?  Do you need to start raising bulls, goats, and sheep in your back yards for the weekly sacrifice?  Blessed Saints, no, we do not for our Epistle reading supplies us a different response. 

In our reading we hear that Jesus is our high priest.  Yes, we hear that Jesus acts on behalf of mankind—on behalf of you—just like the high priest Aaron did for the people of Israel.  However, as we heard in our Epistle reading Jesus is no ordinary high priest.  He is greater than the priests of Old Testament, for He does not offer up sacrifices over and over and over on your behalf, but rather offers up only one perfect and one complete sacrifice for the sins of the world.  What was that one, perfect, complete, and supernatural sacrifice?  Was it some super bull or some super sheep?  No, it was not.  That one supernatural-incredible-sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the whole entire world was Himself.  Indeed, He offered and shed not the blood of bulls and goats, a sacrifice that would happen over and over, but He offered Himself once and for all.  The reason why the blood of Christ is sufficient and exceeds the blood of bulls and goats and sheep in the Old Testament is that Christ’s blood has immeasurable redeeming value—not due the amount, but due to its distinctive characteristics of being shed by the Son of God.[2] 

In a word, the sacrificial system of the Old Testament not only pointed forward to the bloody sacrifice of Christ on the cross, but also delivered to the people of the Old Testament what Christ would soon accomplish for them as the true Lamb of God.

Furthermore, the reason why Jesus is so much more than the Old Testament priests is that the priests of the Old Testament were sinners who had to offer sacrifices not only for the people that they served, but also for themselves as well.  Thus, the Old Testament priests were not the savior but rather they were the ones who needed a savior like those they served.[3]  They needed Jesus.

Like a funnel, the Old Testament sacrifices in the scriptures lead us to Mount Calvary where ultimate blood was sacrificed; blood that poured from Jesus’ cross; blood from God’s Lamb who took all of the sins of the world. 

Hear the good news.  He bled, died, and made payment for—for you.

Dear friends, you do not need a priest to offer up sacrifices every single year on your behalf, for your great priest Jesus Christ offered Himself up once and for all—for you. 

Fear not, your sins have been purged, washed, and cleansed by Christ, the Lamb of God. 

You have a sole priest who reconciles you by His own body and blood; Christ’s shed blood—on your behalf.    

Surely, satisfaction for all of your sins was accomplished by your High Priest who was the sacrifice.   He now continually applies the benefits of this sacrifice to you in Holy Baptism, in His Holy Supper, and in His word.

Merciful Jesus, thank you for being my high priest and my sacrifice, for in you I have complete and total forgiveness of all my sins. Amen. 

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our prophet, priest, and king. Amen.

________________
[1] The Lutheran Study Bible (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2009), 170. 
[2] Jack Kilcrease, The Self-Donation of God: A contemporary Lutheran Approach to Christ and His Benefits (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2013), 87.
[3] Ibid, 90.

The Full Assurance of Hope: Christ As Prophet

Text:  Hebrews 1:1-12

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

When I was a youth I was incorrectly taught that God worked through the Law in the Old Testament, whereas in the New Testament God worked through the Gospel.  Yes, I was taught that the Old Testament was all about the Law (i.e., what we should and should not do) and that the New Testament was all about the Gospel (i.e., what God does for us).

As a result of this poor teaching I began to see a division between the Old and New Testament.   Otherwise stated, since I saw the Gospel as a great importance, the New Testament became for me where it was all at.  The New Testament was the really relevant section of the Bible, whereas, the Old Testament inadvertently became a somewhat useless and irrelevant collection of stories, stories that were only there to somehow make me more moral.  “Be more courageous like David; study hard to have wisdom like Solomon; etc…” 

As time went on though, I thankfully began to see   the continuity between the Old and New Testament.  Otherwise stated, I came to rightly see that there was both Law ‘and’ Gospel in the Old Testament, as well as both Law ‘and’ Gospel in the New Testament.  Furthermore, I began to see that the persons, places, and events of the Old Testament were not just mere moral stories, but where amazing shadows of the New Testament.  Yes, I began to properly see that the people, places, and events in the Old Testament were like sketched outlines on a magnificent canvass.  I came to see the Old Testament as shades and shapes on a canvass that remained unfinished until the revelation of Jesus Christ completed the canvass giving color and hues, yes giving it definitive glory.[1] 

Now, keep in mind, while it is dangerous for us to consider the Old Testament as a mere collection of irrelevant stories, it can be equally dangerous to fall into another extreme.  That extreme is that we can also diminish the persons, places, and events of the Old Testament by writing them off as dim spiritualized shadows of the New Testament realities.   In other words, while it is right to say that the Old Testament persons, places, and events are outlines that shadow the New Testament, it would be wrong for us to say that the Old Testament is nothing more than meager spiritualized obscurities that hint at the New Testament, that they are just some meager stick figures and shapes on a canvass that show us nothing.

To avoid both of these entrapments we must maintain that the persons, events, places of the Old Testament were real persons, real places, and real events that not only told the story which Jesus completed, but also declared the promises which Jesus fulfilled.[2]  Yes, within these real persons, real places, and real events of the Old Testament was Jesus, the Word of God, present in the history of Israel. 

What this means is that both the Old and New Testament unveil the same God who delivers His holy law.  The Old and New Testament both reveal the same God who delivers His sweet gospel of grace.  Yes, both the Old Testament and the New Testament show the same God reaching out to His sin-fallen creation.  They both show the same promise of the Lord wanting to be with His people to the end of the age.  They both show God’s act of redemption in Christ Jesus.[3]  The Old Testament and New Testament have the same author with the same message, tied together in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Now with all of this said, during the next several Advent Services we are going to briefly examine three very prevalent offices that emerge in the Old Testament—the offices of prophet, priest, and king.  Yes, in the Old Testament we see these three prominent roles, these three important offices, these three vocations of: prophet, priest, and king.  These three positions were important positions and callings in the Old Testament and they were filled by real people. 

Tonight though, we are not going to look at all three of these roles, but will look specifically at the office and role of prophet. 

This leads us next to ask, who were the Old Testament prophets?

The prophets of the Old Testament were individuals who spoke rebukes towards sin, they proclaimed mercy to the crushed, and they also spoke in connection to events of the past, present, and future.  They functioned as mediators between God and people, proclaiming only what was revealed to them by God.  Take for example, Moses.  He was a prophet during the time when the Hebrews were in slavery in Egypt.  He spoke, acted, and occupied the office of prophet, bringing about genuine redemption for the Hebrew people who were in slavery in Egypt.  Indeed, Moses was a mouth piece of God for he rebuked sin, proclaimed mercy, and also told the Hebrews and the Egyptians the way that it was with God.  

Not only was Moses a great prophet in the Old Testament, but we also think of other great prophets, prophets like Jeremiah, Isaiah, Micah, and so forth.  They were voices that spoke boldly into the midst of difficult circumstances in Israel’s history.

Now, as previously mentioned, we don’t have to disregard these Old Testament prophets as irrelevant sketches, but we can look at their messages and their circumstances knowing that they not only had an important message for the people of the Old Testament, but these messages and circumstances of the prophets speak to us now because they lead us and pull us to hear from them about the great prophet of the New Testament.  The voice of the Old Testament prophets echo in the past and find their collective culmination in the voice of the great prophet of the New Testament. 

Who is this great prophet of the New Testament though? 

Hmm, is it John the Baptist? 

Well, John the Baptist was certainly a prophet who has a message, yet even his message was intended to prepare the people for another one who was coming.  That one was Jesus Christ.

Yes, my friends, the one that the Old Testament prophets spoke of and the one that the Old Testament prophets were a shadow of was Jesus Christ. 

Furthermore, in Hebrews 1:1, we see that Jesus is greater than all the other prophets in the Old Testament for God spoke by the Old Testament prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us by Jesus.  In other words, Jesus stands in the office, this place of prophet just like Moses and Jeremiah and Isaiah did to speak in the last days.  However, He is not just an ordinary prophet but is certainly greater than all of the other prophets because in Him God came and tabernacled in human flesh, while teaching and proclaiming on earth.[4] 

Permit me to be a bit more specific. 

Whereas Moses’ message spoke of the great prophet to come, Jesus as a prophet spoke of Himself.[5]   Yes, Jesus’ message does not point ahead beyond Him, for He is not only the beginning but the end point of the Old Testament.[6] Therefore, without a doubt, Jeremiah and Isaiah and Micah were great prophets; Moses was the greatest of all the prophets, but in Christ we have the Lord of the prophets; in Christ we do not have a mere man but God himself speaking to us.

To put it briefly, all the prophets of the Old Testament convey the Lord’s message as they funnel us to the Lord.  And thus, when we get to the New Testament we not only affirm that Moses and the other prophets were truly great standing in the office of prophet, but we hear the voice of the Lord from the very lips of the God-Man Jesus Christ.  

And what do we hear? 

We hear from Christ the very words of life unto salvation; Christ’s Word of forgiveness—for you. 

We hear, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that who believes in Him will not perish but may have eternal life.”  We hear, “I give eternal life and they will never perish.  No one will snatch them out of my hand.”  We hear, “I am the resurrection and the life.  Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.”  We hear, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”  We hear, “It is finished.”

Yes, from Jesus the quintessential prophet, we hear the eternal Word that is for us.  He is ever present as our prophet proclaiming the blessed hope of everlasting life, the word of salvation into our ears and upon our souls because He is not only the eternal word but, as we will learn in the upcoming weeks, He is also our high priest and our great king!  Indeed, in the weeks to come we will hear that Jesus is fully present not only as our great prophet, but also present as our high priest and our great king.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our prophet, priest, and king. Amen.

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[1] According to Sidney Greidanus on page 47 of his book Preaching Christ from the Old Testament: A Contemporary Hermeneutical Method, the illustration of the Old Testament being like an incomplete canvass that only receives its definitive shape and hues with the New Testament teachings about the first and second coming of Christ, is an illustration used by the early Church Fathers, Irenaeus and Chrysostom. 
[2] Christopher J.H. Wright, Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1992), 30-31.
[3] Sidney Greidanus, Preaching Christ from the Old Testament: A Contemporary Hermeneutical Method (Grand Rapids, MI: W.M. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. 1999), 46.
[4] Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics: Volume II (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 1951), 335.
[5] See Deuteronomy 18:15.
[6]Jack Kilcrease, The Self-Donation of God: A Contemporary Lutheran Approach to Christ and His Benefits (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2013), 87.