Words of Encouragement for July 14, 2010

Meditations in the Parables of Jesus

THE GOOD MAN OF THE HOUSE AND THE WISE AND UNWISE SERVANTS

Read Matthew 24:42-51

“Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

“Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.” Jesus Christ could return to judge the living and the dead at any time. He could come today, next week, next year or in the next century. We do not know the day or the hour of Jesus’ return, but we are to be watching and ready for that Day! Jesus told two parables to warn against being unwatchful and unprepared.

If a man knew at what time a thief was coming, he would have been ready and watching; he would not have allowed his home to be broken into. So also, a Christian who knows that his Lord could return at any time will not permit that Day to come upon him like an unexpected thief. He will be ready and watching, having faith in Christ Jesus his Savior and, as a fruit of that faith, living his life for his Lord. Those trusting in Christ for salvation will not be condemned at His return; they will inherit the eternal blessings of His heavenly kingdom.

As servants of Christ – especially those placed over God’s household to feed and nourish their fellow-believers with the Word of God – we are to be faithful in our service to the Lord Jesus Christ. If, as a fruit of saving faith in Jesus Christ, we are found faithfully serving our Lord when He returns on the Last Day, we shall be graciously rewarded. But if we are like the evil servant who says in his heart, “My lord delayeth his coming,” and if we continue in sin, our Lord will return in a day and hour when we are not expecting Him. Then we will have our “portion with the hypocrites” where “there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth,” for one cannot have true faith in Christ and also continue to live willfully in sin.

O Christ, who diedst and yet dost live, to me impart Thy merit; my pardon seal, my sins forgive, and cleanse me by Thy Spirit. Beneath Thy cross I view the day when heav’n and earth shall pass away, and thus prepare to meet Thee. Amen. (The Lutheran Hymnal, Hymn #604, Verse 4)

“Comforted by an Adulteress”

John 8:1-11

1 Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. 2 And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them. 3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, 4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? 6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. 7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. 8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. 9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? 11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

First of all, we have to acknowledge that some modern Bible translations, following the more liberal textual critics, omit this text (along with verse 53 of the previous chapter) altogether or include it with a note saying that the “best Greek manuscripts” omit it or place it in a different location in the Gospel. Yet, there is strong evidence that it truly is God’s inspired Word in spite of the fact that a number of ancient Greek manuscripts do not include it here or leave a blank space where it belongs.

This passage, often called the Pericope De Adultera (the Adultery Reading), is included in numerous Greek uncials such as D, G, H, K, M, U and Gamma. Among the minuscule or cursive manuscripts it is in 28, 700, 892, 1009, 1010, 1071, 1079, 1195, 1216, 1344, 1365, 1546, 1646, 2148 and 2174. Many Greek manuscripts contain the passage. It also is in early translations such as the Bohairic Coptic Version, the Syriac Palestinian Version and the Ethiopic Version, all of which date from the second to the sixth centuries. It is clearly the reading of the majority of the Old Latin manuscripts and Jerome’s Latin Vulgate. The passage has patristic support: Didascalia (third century), Ambrosiaster (fourth century), Ambrose (fourth century), the Apostolic Constitutions (which are the largest liturgical collections of writings from Antioch Syria in about 380 AD), Jerome (420 AD), and Augustine (430 AD).

The question then arises as to why this passage was ever omitted from a number of ancient manuscripts. A likely answer is found in church history. Augustine makes an astounding statement concerning the authenticity of the passage. After citing the forgiving phrase of Christ, “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more,” he wrote:

“This proceeding, however, shocks the minds of some weak believers, or rather unbelievers and enemies of the Christian faith: inasmuch that, after (I suppose) of its giving their wives impunity of sinning, they struck out from their copies of the Gospel this that our Lord did in pardoning the woman taken in adultery: as if He granted leave of sinning, Who said, Go and sin no more!”

Augustine implied that some fearful scribes who thought the inclusion of this passage might lead to adultery omitted this passage. This could also explain why some manuscripts which omit this section leave a space where it belongs and why some attach it to the end of the Gospel.

Most certainly it could also be argued that these verses – included in Bibles for centuries and read and preached in churches around the world – have been used by the Holy Spirit to convict sinners and to comfort them with the grace and forgiveness offered us for the sake of the shed blood of Christ Jesus. I myself draw comfort from the fact that Jesus does not condemn me but forgives me and accepts me. He doesn’t offer a license to sin, but tells me that I, in response to His forgiveness, should go and sin no more.

Fully convinced that these verses are the inspired and unerring Word of God and belong here in the Gospel (the attempt of the Pharisees to trap Jesus fit with the surrounding context), I offer the following insights for your consideration.

When Jesus returned to the temple early in the morning (after spending the night on the Mount of Olives), the people gathered around Him and He was teaching them. To discredit Jesus’ teaching and to trap Him, the Jewish scribes and Pharisees brought a woman to Jesus and set her before Him, saying they had caught her in the very act of committing adultery. Why the man was not brought, or how they knew just where to find her, we are not told.

Their challenge to Jesus came in the words: “Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?” The Bible also tells us: “This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him.”

It was, of course, a trap. If Jesus said to release her, he would have been contradicting the Law of Moses – the Scriptures and God Himself (Leviticus 20:10). If He commanded her to be stoned to death, He could be accused before the Roman governor because the Jews were not permitted to carry out capital punishments (cf. John 18:31).

Jesus’ response was most remarkable: “But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.”

What Jesus wrote on the ground, the Bible doesn’t say. Some have speculated that He wrote the commandments in the dirt. Others suggest that he may have revealed the private sins of the woman’s accusers. The point is that the only one left with the woman, who had the just right to condemn her, was Jesus. He alone had kept all of God’s commandments, and He alone was perfect and without sin.

Certainly, we as sinful people can relate to this woman’s accusers. We are so often quick to judge and condemn others for their disobedience and sin. But when we hear the Law of God, we realize, too, that we are just as guilty. We deserve to be judged and condemned by the almighty and holy God who created us.

“If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O LORD, who shall stand?” (Psalm 130:3).

When I was a sheriff’s deputy and had to help care for prisoners in the jail who were there because of numerous crimes, I realized that in God’s court I was no better. God judges not only our outward acts but our words and the thoughts and intents of our hearts. The Bible plainly tells us that “the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Genesis 8:21). It says that “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

Had I been standing there before this sinful woman, I could not have picked up a stone to throw at her. I too am a sinner and guilty before God. The older I have gotten, the more apparent this truth has become to me. My conscience convicts me. When I see another judged and condemned for some sin, I have to admit, “There go I but for the grace of God.”

The real comfort of this pericope – this cut-out from Scripture – is what happened next. “When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.”

Was the woman guilty of sinning against God’s commandments? Yes, without a doubt! She was caught in the very act. Could Jesus have justly condemned her and picked up the stones? Yes, without a doubt! He was and is the holy and sinless Son of God and the Judge of all the earth. Did Jesus condemn this sinful woman caught in the very act of committing a grave sin, a capital crime in Old testament Israel? No, He did not! Instead, Jesus forgave her, pardoned her and released her. He said, “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.”

How could He do it? How could the holy and just Son of God pardon and forgive this sinful woman? God’s Word tells us: “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” … because … “He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 1:9; 2:2). Jesus suffered and died on the cross and paid in full the just punishment for this woman’s sins. God’s justice was satisfied and Jesus showed to this woman mercy and forgiveness!

The same is true for you and me. Though guilty of wickedness and sin, Jesus satisfied God’s just wrath against us. He has every right to condemn us but He, instead, reaches out to us with mercy and forgiveness. Though the devil and all the world might accuse us, Jesus tells us – no matter how great our sins have been – “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.”

“If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared” (Psalm 130:3,4).

Jesus does not condemn us. He died on the cross for all our sins – even the sins of all the world – and rose again that He might acquit us, forgive us and give us a place in His everlasting kingdom.

But why did Jesus say to this woman: “Go, and sin no more”? Was He adding terms and conditions? If this woman sinned again, would her forgiveness and salvation be lost?

And what about you and me? We confess our sins and receive God’s absolution in Word and Sacrament every Sunday. We are assured of God’s mercy and pardon. If we fall again, is all lost?

Jesus’ pardon and forgiveness to this woman was not conditional. He did not say, “I won’t condemn you if you go and sin no more.” He fully and freely forgave her all her sin. But He urged her, as a response to His mercy, to go and refrain from sin and disobedience to God. He gave her no license to keep on committing adultery or to live in an adulterous relationship. He called upon her, as a fruit of His mercy and pardon, to amend her sinful ways and live for Him in obedience to God’s Word. If she stumbled, if she fell, Jesus’ mercy was not gone. It was still there for her to cling to and depend upon. Jesus was still her Savior!

If we sin again, if we fall – and we all do – Jesus is still there for us too, with His mercy and grace. He doesn’t pardon us so that we can live as we please and indulge in our sinful desires, for the wages of sin is still death (Romans 6:23). But He continues to call us to faith in Him and His mercy. For the sake of His innocent sufferings and death in our stead, He continues to offer us His pardon and forgiveness. He continues to offer us life in His name.

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness … My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 1:8-9; 2:1-2).

How comforting this account of the adulterous woman is to us sinners! It assures us that though we too are guilty and worthy of death and hell, Jesus does not condemn us. He forgives us and accepts us and gives us life. Jesus says to us sinners who are accused by our own consciences, the devil and the world: “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.”

May God’s Spirit grant you comfort in Jesus’ words. Amen.

The Augsburg Confession

Article III: Of the Son of God.

Also they teach that the Word, that is, the Son of God, did assume the human nature in the womb of the blessed Virgin Mary, so that there are two natures, the divine and the human, inseparably enjoined in one Person, one Christ, true God and true man, who was born of the Virgin Mary, truly suffered, was crucified, dead, and buried, that He might reconcile the Father unto us, and be a sacrifice, not only for original guilt, but also for all actual sins of men.

He also descended into hell, and truly rose again the third day; afterward He ascended into heaven that He might sit on the right hand of the Father, and forever reign and have dominion over all creatures, and sanctify them that believe in Him, by sending the Holy Ghost into their hearts, to rule, comfort, and quicken them, and to defend them against the devil and the power of sin.

The same Christ shall openly come again to judge the quick and the dead, etc., according to the Apostles’ Creed.

Bible Study in Preparation for Sunday

Scripture Readings for Sunday are Psalm 27; Acts 8:1-25; Luke 10:38-42. Please read them in their context as you prepare for worship on Sunday.

The Adult Bible Class will continue in the Gospel of John at chapter 7:19ff. Who was seeking to kill Jesus? Cf. John 5:18. Why? What law were they breaking by seeking to kill Jesus? Did the Jews regard it a sin if one was circumcised on the Sabbath? What had Jesus done on the Sabbath (cf. Chapter 5)? Was this right or wrong? Why? Do people today ever get so focused on one commandment that they neglect other weightier commandments? How? Do the words of Hosea 6:6-7 have application here? Did the people think they knew Jesus’ origins? What did they believe about Christ? How were they mistaken in their understanding? What did Jesus say of His origins? Did the Jews recognize Jesus for who He is? Did they know the Father who sent Him? Cf. John 14:6. Can one know God if he doesn’t know Jesus? Why did many of the people believe on Jesus? What did they say? Why were the Jews unable to arrest Jesus at this time? What did Jesus say to His enemies? What did He mean? Of what was He warning His hearers? What did Jesus say on the last day of the Jewish feast of tabernacles? What does this mean? How does it apply yet today?

Remember to Pray

Remember to pray for our church and for all our members, that none be lost to Christ’s kingdom but that all continue in repentance and be strengthened and built up in the true and saving faith in Christ Jesus through the hearing and study of His Word. We pray for God’s healing and strengthening of our congregation. We continue to pray for all who have been sick or who are suffering among us – especially for Dick Stueland, who is recovering from knee surgery; for Sam Rusch, who is back in the hospital; and for the mother of Dick Rusch – for those who have been absent from us, for our extended families, for Christians who are alone and have no congregation, and for our adopted soldiers. Pray for God’s help with our church’s financial needs. Continue to pray for the Lutheran Churches in the Philippines, for Christians in Nigeria, Haiti and Chile, and for believers around the world who are persecuted or suffering for their faith in Christ Jesus.

Events and Announcements

The Congregational Evening Bible Study is set for tonight at 7 p.m. Some will be meeting earlier – about 6:20 – for a sandwich and all are invited to join in that as well.

Information for bulletins or newsletters may be sent to Pastor Moll by calling him at 479-233-0081 or by e-mail at goodshepherdrogers@yahoo.com.

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” Psalm 27:1

[Scripture in this Newsletter is taken from the King James Version of the Bible]