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Matthew 18:21-35 – ²¹ Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” ²² Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.

²³ “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. ²⁴ When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. ²⁵ And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. ²⁶ So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ ²⁷ And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. ²⁸ But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ ²⁹ So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ ³⁰ He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. ³¹ When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. ³² Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ³³ Wasn’t it necessary that you should have mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ ³⁴ And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. ³⁵ So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

He got waaaay more than he asked for. This was even better than the time he asked the dealer to knock a couple hundred off the sticker price of that Mercedes S-Class, and the dealer just said, “Nah. No charge. Just take it. Here’s the keys.”

The Unforgiving Servant needs a name. Let’s call him Vinnie – that’s a fitting name for such a disgusting individual.

Vinnie’s day began badly. His breakfast had been interrupted by the king’s two brutes who hauled him off to see the creditor. From the second they burst into the door, Vinnie pretty much knew what exactly was going to happen. He didn’t know the names of the two lugs, but he was sure they had come at the command of the king.

The king had lent Vinnie some money – a lot of money. Ok an exorbitant amount of money. Vinnie owed the king more than a king’s ransom. Vinnie owed the king 10,000 talents – that’s 60 million days (164,383 years) of work. To put this in perspective: If you worked every day of the year earning a measly $10.00 per hour that would translate to $4,800,000,000,000.

Obviously, Vinnie could not pay. So the king ordered Vinnie to be sold with his wife and children and all that he had. Vinnie didn’t like the sound of this. He fell on his knees and said, “Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything.”

Yeah, right.

Notice that Vinnie is simply asking for patience and more time. But the king doesn’t give Vinnie patience or time. The king gives Vinnie more than patience or time. The king gives him mercy. Vinnie didn’t ask for the debt to be forgiven; the king simply wipes it out. A simple word from the king, and *POOF* Vinnie’s $4.8 trillion debt just gets erased – it’s gone.

Vinnie had to be feeling pretty good. What had begun as a terrible day was turning out to be an excellent day, a superb day. This was the type of day that should have been remembered by Vinnie’s children, grandchildren, and great-great-great-great grandchildren. And it would have been. But, then, Vinnie left the king’s hall.

You would think Vinnie would be so deliriously happy that he would be telling everyone about the mercy and grace of the king. Everyone had to know that Vinnie had been lent a large amount of money. Maybe they didn’t know how much, but you don’t rack up $4.8 trillion in debt without someone noticing that something’s going on. But Vinnie leaves the king’s hall and sees one of his fellow servants.

Vinnie sees Chuck (let’s call this fellow servant ‘Chuck’), and Vinnie remembers that Chuck owed him 100 denarii. One denarii is one day’s wage. Doing the same math at $10 per hour, Chuck owed Vinnie $8,000. Now, $8,000 is a significant amount, but it isn’t even chump change compared to $4.8 trillion – not by a long shot. Vinnie walks up to Chuck and without even a, “Hello,” Vinnie begins to choke Chuck saying, “Pay what you owe me.”

Pause here for a minute. Think about this: Where do kings get their money? That’s right, from taxing their subjects. Vinnie just got his debt of $4.8 trillion forgiven by the king. How much of that $4.8 trillion do you suppose was Chuck’s tax money? Chew on that later today.

Anyway, Chuck pulls the same stunt that Vinnie had just pulled with the king. Chuck pleaded, “Have patience with me, Vinnie, and I will pay you,” echoing Vinnie’s words almost exactly. But Vinnie refuses to have patience. He had Chuck thrown in prison until the debt would be paid.

Naturally, this grieved the other servants that saw it, so they went and told the king. The king summoned Vinnie back into his chambers. Vinnie entered the hall and saw the brutes standing along the wall. The king starts in on Vinnie the moment he entered the room, “You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Wasn’t it necessary for you to have mercy on your fellow slave as I had mercy on you?”

Then the king ordered his lugs to haul Vinnie off to the torturers until he repaid everything he owed.

Jesus concludes His parable and tells us what it means. “My heavenly Father will do the same thing to every one of you if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

Peter thought that forgiving his brother seven times was pretty good. And Peter was right. How many people would forgive someone seven times? Probably no one. We have the saying, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” If someone lies to you, you might forgive them, but you make sure that you don’t let them pull the wool over your eyes again. Forgive someone seven times, and people will call you a fool. But Jesus tells Peter to forgive 70 x 7 times. Four-hundred ninety times, but Jesus doesn’t intend for you to stop at 491. Forgiveness is unlimited, and Jesus explains this with the parable.

But this parable is so extreme, so unthinkable. And yet the situation Jesus puts forward is, in a terrifying way, more real and true than we will ever understand. Every last one of you here has an unimaginable debt just like Vinnie.

Sin – all sin – is against God. Every time you break God’s law, you rack up debt with your God and King. Jesus summarizes the entire Law of God as, “Love the Lord your God with all year heart, soul, mind, and strength. And love your neighbor as yourself.” So when you don’t love your neighbor as yourself, you aren’t loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength because you aren’t doing what He had commanded. So, you can see how quickly your debt of sin multiplies exponentially. Every week, you rack up a debt like Vinnie’s. You constantly owe God an incalculable debt of sin. And what does He do? Because of Jesus’ death on the cross, He simply wipes it out. Because of Jesus, your debt is gone. Because of Jesus, as far as God’s concerned, your sin never existed.

So, when someone sins against you, what are you to do? The words of the king tell us, ”Isn’t it necessary that you should have mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?” The answer is, “Yes. Yes of course it is necessary.”

Mercy is two things. Mercy is both not getting what you deserve and getting what you don’t deserve. Vinnie got mercy. He didn’t get the punishment that he deserved, and he got his debt forgiven which he didn’t deserve. But Vinnie showed that he refused the king’s mercy because Vinnie demanded what he deserved from Chuck. By demanding his rights from Chuck, Vinnie was refusing his undeserved gift from the king.

This parable makes it all so clear. Mercy isn’t meant to be held on to. Mercy is meant to be passed on. The mercy that flows from God to you is designed to flow to others as well. It doesn’t matter what someone else has done to you, forgive them.

Now, that doesn’t mean that you won’t feel pain. People who have sinned against you can cause you hurt and scars that may never go away. The emotional pain of sin against you may last your entire life – even when you have forgiven them.

But know this for sure: God has forgiven you in Christ. His mercies are new every morning. Jesus is the Lamb of God who has taken away your sin – even your sins of unforgiveness. So comfort each another with the mercy that God has given to you. Your neighbor is dependent upon it. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Listen here.

Matthew 18:1-20— ¹ At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” ² And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them ³ and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ⁵ Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me.

⁶ ”But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. ⁷ Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! ⁸ And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. ⁹ And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.

¹⁰ “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.

¹² ”What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? ¹³ And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. ¹⁴ So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

¹⁵ “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. ¹⁶ But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. ¹⁷ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. ¹⁸ Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

¹⁹ ”Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

The disciples ask, “Who is the greatest in the reign of heaven?” but Jesus doesn’t answer their question right away. While the disciples are curious about who is the greatest, Jesus is more interested in telling them about getting into the reign of heaven. Jesus called a child over, placed the child in the midst of the disciples, and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the reign of heaven.”

You’ve probably heard the saying, “Everything I needed to know, I learned in kindergarten.” You do learn a lot of important things in kindergarten, but you certainly didn’t learn everything you need to know. If the world were run by people who stopped learning after kindergarten (and, maybe, sometimes it appears that is the case) we would lament the day that we stopped sending people on to 1^st grade and beyond.

It is important for us to understand what Jesus is saying here because if we don’t we will misunderstand what Jesus says in the rest of ch. 18 (which we’ll continue looking at next week).

For Jesus to tell His disciples that they have to “become like children” was an absolutely radical statement in His day. In Jesus’ day, children were considered weak and inferior. In Jesus’ day, children were praised only because they had the potential to become something in the future. It’s still true in our day too. Maybe we aren’t that blunt about it. But when someone tells you that you are being childish, they aren’t giving you a compliment.

Children are weak, and children don’t plan ahead. We didn’t hire a kindergarten class to pave our parking lot and for good reason. Children don’t know how to do many tasks correctly or efficiently – they need patience as they learn how to do things. As a parent, I am grateful when my kids ask if they can help me do something, but if I decline their offer to help, it is usually because I know I can get the job done in half the time when I do it myself.

Children do have a lot of good qualities that it would be good for adults to emulate, but we don’t want a world full of children. Sometimes we think Jesus wants us to be like children because they are happy. But for every time a child is happy they are also whining, complaining twerps. We maybe think Jesus wants us to be like children because children are innocent, but we all know children aren’t innocent. Parents know that when one of their children has been hurt by one of their siblings, there is probably no innocent party. A child crying out, “She hit me,” probably means that the child who was hit did something to deserve it. We maybe think Jesus wants us to be like children because they are trusting. But children are trusting to a fault which is why they have to be taught to avoid strangers.

So what does Jesus mean when He tells the disciples they must become like children?  What quality do children have that we and the disciples need to become like them? Dependence.

When Jesus says, “You must become like children to enter the kingdom of heaven. And whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven,” He is redefining greatness. Children, whether they recognize it or not, depend and rely upon their parents for everything. Children rely on their parents for food, shelter, clothing, education, and everything they need for life.

Children are even dependent upon their parents for their independence. In our culture, children are considered independent adults when they turn 18. But the level of independence they have rests on how well the parents have prepared them for being independent. For example, if you don’t teach your kids how to spend money wisely, they will be slaves to debt.

In this whole text, Jesus is teaching that dependence equals greatness in the reign of heaven. Now, that’s backward thinking. But Jesus is so insistent on this point that He spends the rest of ch. 18 fleshing this out.

Jesus says, “Ok, disciples. You want to be great in the reign of heaven? Depend upon Me for everything. Humble yourself and know that you need to receive everything from Me and you will be great. When you receive a child like this one in My name, you receive Me. But if you cause one of these children to sin (lit. ‘be scandalized’ as in ‘fall away’), it would be better for you if you were dragged to the bottom of the sea by a huge stone.”

Jesus continues to be deadly serious about this. He says, “Woe to the world for its scandals. Because of sin scandals will come, but woe to the one by whom they come. You would be better off lopping off hands and limbs and plucking out eyes rather than causing scandals for those who are dependent upon Me.”

Jesus shows His care and concern for those who are dependent on Him in the parable about the Lost Sheep to drive this point home. “If one of my sheep is lost, they need Me. And I will leave the ninety-nine to search out the one that went astray. I don’t groan about that sheep that is lost. I weep. I will do everything to restore that one lost, dependent sheep. And I will rejoice over that one lost sheep that I restore more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.”

And Jesus wants you to have this same concern for a dependent brother or sister. Jesus says, “If someone sins against you, don’t go around telling everyone. Go to the person alone and restore them. If that doesn’t work, bring others with you to try to restore that person. But if that doesn’t work tell the church. And if they still refuse to listen, make it clear to them that they are outside the church, outside My protection. Tell them that they are outside so that they will see their danger and come back in.”

And Jesus says, “Even when only two of my people are gathered in My name, I am there among them.”

Brothers and sisters, we are in a great place because Jesus is here among us. Here we are, a small little flock of sheep gathered at our Shepherd’s feet. We have all gone astray. This past week we have all sinned and wandered from our Shepherd’s pen. And yet He has gathered us together once again. And heaven rejoices. Heaven rejoices as our Savior throws us a feast in His Supper giving us His body to eat and His blood to drink. In this meal, Jesus is present with us, forgiving our sins. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Listen here.

Matthew 16:21-28— ²¹ From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. ²² And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” ²³ But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

²⁴ Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ²⁵ For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. ²⁶ For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? ²⁷ For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. ²⁸ Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the Son of Man is coming with his kingdom.”

In the name of Jesus, the Son of the living God. Amen.

Poor old Peter. What had he done to get wiped out like that from Jesus? He had just confessed about Jesus to Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” You can’t get a better confession than that. Jesus even said so, “Blessed are you Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.”

Peter’s confession was so solid that Jesus said He would build His church on it. I wonder how Peter was feeling as Jesus said, “On [the rock of this confession] I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

But Peter went wrong – diabolically wrong, satanically wrong. Peter went wrong when he decided that he knew better than God how things should go for the Christ, the Messiah. Jesus, the Son of the living God, says the way He should go as Messiah is to Jerusalem to suffer, to be killed, and to rise again after three days. Peter didn’t like all that, not one bit. In Peter’s mind, that is not what the “living God” should do. The living God should not die. The living God should not be killed by the hands of men. No way. Peter confessed that Jesus was the Christ, but when Jesus says that He isn’t going to be the type of Christ Peter wants, Peter says as much. “God have mercy on You, Lord. This shall never happen to You.”

But what does Jesus say? “Get behind me, Satan!” Jesus certainly doesn’t beat around the bush.

Peter wanted a Christ who doesn’t do Maundy Thursday or Good Friday or Holy Saturday – the sort of Christ who doesn’t do the Passion. And Jesus wanted nothing to do with that sort of Peter.

As Matthew records this, there were only a few minutes between Peter’s good, faithful confession and his denial, his anti-Christ. Where did it all go wrong? Jesus’ words offer us the answer. When Peter confesses, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” Jesus says, “Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” But when Peter says, “God have mercy on You, Jesus. You will never suffer and die. That will never happen to You.” Jesus responds, “You are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

Do you see what flesh and blood does? Do you see where the things of man get you? Left to yourself, you end up in your own devilish design, your own satanic scheme. The fallen thoughts of man and flesh and blood leave you in your sin. Without a Christ who does the Passion, Peter is still lost in his sin. And so are you, so is everyone. You fallen sons of Adam and fallen daughters of Eve, “To set the mind on the flesh is death…. The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Ro. 8:6-8).

We are all like Peter. We think we can tell God how things ought to go. It is called sin. We think we can do a better job of being God than God can. We place ourselves above God in all we think, say, and do. We see the most selfless act of love, the crucifixion, and say that it isn’t necessary because we can’t be all that bad. Could it really be that we are so evil that God would have to die for us to make us right? Yes! Absolutely, yes! We are that bad. We are that evil. We are that rotten. There is no limit to our wicked thoughts and actions. Because of that, we deserve God’s temporal and eternal punishment.

And yet God simply does not want that to happen. God has chosen to take our sin from us. Jesus took our sin – your sin – and the punishment we deserve – that you deserve – and placed it upon His only-begotten Son, killing your sin and His Son.

You cannot doubt that Peter loved Jesus, but love can certainly get things wrong. Probably, Peter’s love for Jesus led Peter to not want Jesus to have the rough road of the crucifixion that Jesus said was before Him. And Peter let his love for Jesus get in the way of his faith in Jesus. You can confess using all the right words and have a heart full of love and still be the mouthpiece of Satan (Nagel). Your misguided love for Jesus can bring you to place where you stand with the crowds saying to Jesus, “Come down from the cross, if You are the Son of God” (Mt. 27:42). But out of His love for you, Jesus simply will not.

Jesus says that He must go to Jerusalem, suffer, be killed, and rise again, there is no getting around it. And He has done all of that for you. And you, believer, follow after Him.

To follow after Jesus is to deny yourself, to turn away from your lives of trying to be your own god. When you try to save your own sinful life, you lose everything, but when you lose your life of sin, you will find a life, an eternal life, with God. Only when you lose your life do you find another. A new life of taking up your cross and following after Jesus. Following Him through suffering. Following Him to His death and to His tomb. But also following Him to the resurrection and eternal life.

The disciples did not taste death, they did not die, until they saw the Christ come in His glory. The cross, that humiliating place of pain and death, is the place of Christ’s glory. And the cross is the place of your glory. For on that cross, you were made a child of God. Amen.[1]

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

[1] I am thankful for a sermon by the Rev. Dr. Norman Nagel on this text as inspiration for this sermon.

Listen here.

Matthew 16:13-20— ¹³ Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” ¹⁴ And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” ¹⁵ He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” ¹⁶ Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” ¹⁷ And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” ²⁰ Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

In the name of Jesus, the Son of the living God. Amen.

Jesus decides to take an opinion poll while in the district of Caesarea Philippi, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” The results vary: some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, some Jeremiah, or others one of the prophets. All of those answers are flattering, very complimentary, but are they right? Flattering and complimentary are fine and dandy, but in this question only the right answer counts.

Jesus asks the disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter answers for the disciples and, ultimately, for the whole Christian Church, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” If Peter is right (and he is), notice what this means. It means that Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise Adam and Eve heard from God, that the seed of the woman will crush Satan’s head (Gen. 3:15). It means that Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham, “I will bless you. And your seed will possess the gate of his enemies, and in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 22:17-18). Jesus is the fulfillment of all the promises God gave to Moses, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel.

To confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God is a big confession to make. But Peter didn’t make this up on his own. He’s not as good a theologian as that – no one is. Jesus says, “Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, Peter, but my Father who is in heaven.” Flesh and blood does not avail you. You cannot, by your own reason or strength, believe in Jesus Christ or come to Him (SC Art. 3).

Our epistle text (Ro. 11:34-12:8) says, “Who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor? Or who has given a gift to Him that he might be repaid? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen.”

Peter’s confession – that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God – came from God, was made through God, and gives glory to God. So does your confession, believer. And flesh and blood does not reveal who Jesus is to you. Only the Father who is in heaven can reveal this through the Holy Spirit.

Jesus makes three promises to those who confess this. Jesus promises first to build His Church upon this confession. “On this rock I will build My church.” God builds the Church. I know many of you here put your hands to the very hammers and saws that built this building. You have your own blood, sweat, and tears in this building. But someday this building will fall. It will crumble. But the holy Christian Church is not a building. And some of you, many of you, have brought others into this building to hear the Gospel of Christ, and that Gospel has been heard and believed. But you still have not built this Church. God has. You are the living stones which “are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 2:5).

Jesus’ second promise is that on the rock of the confession that He is the Christ, the Son of the living God, God will build the Church so firmly that “the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” Now that is quite a promise, but it is difficult to tell the ‘direction’ of this promise – is it offensive or defensive? Some commentators focus on the defensive nature of this. They say that the evil hosts of Satan that issue from the stronghold of hell’s gates will attack the Church but will always be thwarted. If this is the direction of the promise, then hell can send out host after host, but the Church will stand.

However, other commentators view this in the opposite direction, as offensive. Gates don’t move – they protect. Rocks can be loaded into catapults and hurled against gates. As Jesus ministered, He fought against the devil and his kingdom, and Jesus, the Son of the living God, prevailed. Casting out demons, healing diseases, and overcoming the fallen creation was Jesus’ cup of tea. Jesus’ Church is still on the offensive side of the ball. Sins are forgiven and the rule of Satan is overthrown through Jesus’ continued ministry in the Church. The Church, which stands on  the solid rock of the confession that Jesus is the Messiah, demolishes hell’s gates every time.

Whether this promise is defensive or offensive, doesn’t really matter. Believer, you along with the rest of the Christian Church will always overcome the strongest onslaught of hell.

Jesus’ third promise is, “I will give you the keys of the reign of heaven.” If you give keys to someone, it means you trust them with whatever is behind the door. Jesus gave His Church the keys to the reign of heaven. Those who do not confess that Jesus is the promised Messiah are eternally locked out of the reign of heaven. Those who do confess, who have this revelation from the Father, enter into the door of the reign of heaven.

Yes. God is so reckless that He will entrust the opening and closing of the reign of heaven to His Church. He has given His Church the authority to forgive sins because of what Jesus has done on the cross. Jesus Himself told the Church to disciple all nations opening the reign of heaven to them so that all can enter. However, those who stubbornly refuse Jesus’ call to enter into the reign of heaven through His sacrifice are to be shut out. The Church is to make it clear that they are outside of God’s love – in order that they desire to receive the love of God already poured out for them in Christ’s blood.

And that is precisely what Jesus will do in next week’s Gospel lesson (Mt. 16:21-28); Jesus will close the doors to the reign of heaven in Peter’s face. We’ll see how quickly things fall apart when the Church moves away from its confession of Christ being the Messiah. There is only one Messiah, and He has come to be a specific type of Messiah. Peter will be told by Christ, the Son of the living God, that is necessary for Him as Messiah to suffer, die, and rise again. Peter decides he doesn’t want that type of Messiah. He will tell Jesus, “Far be it from You, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” Jesus says to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan.” But we’ll leave that for next week.

For now, know the truth of this confession – Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. This confession, this faith comes only from God. And this faith is unconquerable. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Listen here.

Matthew 15:21-28—²¹ And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. ²² And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” ²³ But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” ²⁴ He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” ²⁵ But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” ²⁶ And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” ²⁷ She said, “Yes, Lord, for even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” ²⁸ Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Several places in the Gospels, Jesus does or says things that make us uncomfortable. Matthew 13:58 is one: “[Jesus] could not do many mighty works [in Nazareth], because of their unbelief.” Mark 8:22-26 is another; Jesus lays His hands on a blind man to restore his sight. But when Jesus asks the blind man if he can see, he responds, “I see people, but they look like trees walking.”

Today’s text is a big one. You can’t get around the fact that in this text, Jesus is rude, racist, and just downright mean and insulting. This is one of those texts that can make us uncomfortable in a society where “tolerance” is the chief virtue. If you will allow me a baseball analogy, Jesus strikes this woman out on three pitches.

This Canaanite woman comes to Jesus for help – and not for herself. She cries out, “Kyrie Eleison! Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” What problem could she have that is more compelling? She’s not coming for her husband or even for her son; she is making a request on behalf of her poor daughter. Her daughter doesn’t need help because she’s done something wrong. A demon is oppressing her and oppressing her wickedly.

But what does Jesus do? Jesus gives her the silent treatment. “He did not answer her a word.”

Strike one.

The disciples come to Jesus, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” The disciples seem to want Jesus to give this Canaanite woman what she wants so they can get rid of her. Jesus responds with a quick response that, frankly, sounds racist. “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” In other words, Jesus directly tells the disciples (and indirectly tells the woman), “I’m not here to help the likes of her.”

Strike two.

Down in the count, the woman falls on her knees before Jesus. “Lord, help me.” If Jesus sounded apathetic before, His next words are downright mean. Jesus winds up and throws a killer screwball, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” You heard it right. Jesus just called her a dog – a dog unworthy of His help. Ok, it’s time to be offended. Time to slap Jesus in the face. Time to get on social media and ruin Jesus’ reputation.

It’s strike three, and she’s out in humiliating fashion.

But notice, she’s not offended. In fact, she agrees with Jesus. She says, “Yes, Lord. It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs. Give the bread to Your children. But when the children eat, they get sloppy. And their sloppiness means we dogs eat too. Your bread is so good that even the crumbs are more than enough for me and my daughter. I’m not asking for their bread, all I need is one of their crumbs that carelessly falls on the floor.”

Not many things impress Jesus in the Gospels, but listen to what Jesus says, “O woman, great is your faith!” Great faith. What makes this woman’s faith great? There are two things about this woman’s faith that are a lesson for us.[1]

First, great faith knows who Jesus is. This woman is a foreigner – she is a Canaanite. As a Canaanite, she is outside of the promise God made through David’s Son. Jesus is Israel’s Messiah whom God had promised to send through David’s line. You see, “God doesn’t keep every promise [you] can think of. He only keeps the promises that He has made” (Gibbs). And, through faith, this woman knows that Jesus was sent to the lost sheep of Israel. It is not right to interrupt God’s plan by taking the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs. But she doesn’t ask Jesus to do that. Because she knows who He is, she says, “Yes, Lord. For even the dogs eat the crumbs,” which brings us to the second thing that makes faith great.

Great faith knows that Jesus has something for you. That doesn’t mean that God will give you whatever you want. In fact, God may give you something you don’t want. Jesus is Lord, and you are not. Jesus has something for you, but it may not be what you want. If presented with the choice between bread and crumbs which would you chose? Yeah, bread every time.

Who here would chose to be saved by a God who sacrifices Himself in weakness and shame by dying on a cross? That way of salvation is silly; it is foolish. But, believer, that is the only salvation there is. That is the only salvation from sin, death, and the devil available to anyone.

You see, Jesus is Lord, and He does have something for you. He has given Himself, all of Himself, His body crucified and His blood shed – for you. To believe this is saving faith, and saving faith is always a gift of God.

And remember what Scripture says about faith – what this faith does for you – it makes you a child of God. John 1:12–13 ¹² But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, ¹³ who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Remember who Jesus is. Remember that you were separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But remember that He has something for you. Christ Jesus, the Son of David, has brought, even you who were far off, He has brought you near by His blood. You are no longer strangers and aliens, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God (Eph. 2:12-13, 19). Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

[1] For these two things that faith believes, I am indebted to Dr. Jeffrey Gibbs’ commentary and a sermon he preached on this text.

Listen here.

Matthew 14:22-33—Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. ²³ And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray.

When evening came, he was there alone, ²⁴ but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. ²⁵ And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. ²⁶ But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. ²⁷ But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”

²⁸ And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” ²⁹ He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” ³¹ Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” ³² And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. ³³ And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Approaching a text like this, it is easy to make a mistake and think it is about the disciples. But this text is not primarily about the disciples – it is about Jesus. We wrongly think this text is about the disciples because of the distance St. Matthew, as he writes this account, creates between Jesus and the disciples. Last week, we saw how the disciples wanted Jesus to dismiss the crowds so the crowds could go get something to eat. But Jesus wanted the disciples to feed them. So He provided.

Just hours later, Jesus sends the disciples away in their boat to go to the other side of the sea. As they row and sail away, Jesus dismisses the crowds and hikes up the mountain to pray. Remember, Jesus created this separation between Himself and the disciples sending them into the middle of the sea even though a storm was approaching.

Remember who has sent them: this is Jesus, God-in-the-flesh who created the waters. He is the God who shut in the sea with bars told the waters, “Thus far you shall come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed” (Job 38:8, 11). This is the very Jesus who sends the disciples out into the middle of the storm.

Does that sound just like God to you? Have you ever sensed that you have been guided by God to go and do something, but then things falls apart? What do you do in those situations? It is easy to doubt. It is easy to assume that you have gone outside of God’s will or done something wrong that has made God is angry.

But that is not case. God can and does send you out into situations that are bigger than you. God can and does send you out into danger and trouble.

Well, these experienced sailors and fishermen are separated from their Master stuck fighting the wind and the waves on their home turf – well, surf would probably be more appropriate. This day just isn’t going their way.

Notice, though, that even though they are having trouble, there is no mention of the disciples being afraid. The disciples are not scared – until they see Jesus. Jesus advances towards them, but all they see is a phantasm. They see a figure emerging from the darkness walking on top of the very same waves that are inhibiting their progress.

The Man who had taught them and explained parables to them, the Man who handed them bread to feed the throng, the Man who they had left everything to follow after nears – and they don’t recognize Him! They see Jesus pealing back the curtain revealing His divinity, and they think He is a ghost. Their Teacher, their God, and their Savior comes to them, but they only see something to fear. Granted, Jesus is appearing in an odd way; He was doing something that no man can do walking across those stormy waves as though they are just wet pavement. Even though the Old Testament speaks about God as the one who walks on the waters (Job 9:8; Hab. 3:15), seeing it causes the disciples to fear.

Remember though, this text isn’t about the disciples. Jesus doesn’t give the disciples tips on how to get out of their precarious situation. He doesn’t say, “Row harder. Put your backs into it. Think positive. You can do it.” He simply speaks words. But in these words, Jesus gives Himself to the disciples. And He doesn’t wait. Immediately (notice ‘immediately’) He says, “Take heart; it is I. Fear not.”

But sometimes, for us, that isn’t enough. Even though Jesus has given Himself to the disciples through His Word, Peter wants more.

Another wrong approach to this text is that we make it about Peter. This text isn’t about Peter; it’s about Jesus.

Peter wants more. “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” Always gracious, Jesus invites Peter, “Come.” Things go well – at first. Peter steps out of the boat, walks across the water, and comes to Jesus. But then Peter allows himself to get distracted by the wind. Standing out there on the water, Peter fears what he did not fear before, and begins to sink. The way Matthew words this makes me wonder: How did Peter sink? Did Peter immediately fall into the water just like he was dropped? Did he slowly sink like the sea was quicksand? We don’t know.

Anyway, Peter cries out, “Lord, save me.” If I were Jesus, I’d have lost my patience. I would have let Peter sink down to the bottom of the sea. But how long does Jesus wait to rescue this braggadocios disciple? He doesn’t wait one second. “Immediately, Jesus reached out His hand and took hold of [Peter] saying to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’”

Peter has no excuse; neither do you. Why would you doubt the God who is so powerful, He could create the universe with a simple word? Why would you doubt the loving nature of God when He is willing to sacrifice His own Son to save the likes of you? You who doubt – you who are also a little faith, there is no excuse for unbelief. Unbelief and doubt only creates trauma.

Peter doubted twice. He doubted that it really was Jesus approaching the boat walking on the water, “Lord if it is you…” then Peter doubted when he saw the wind. Peter should have believed Jesus the first time, and Peter should have believed Jesus the second time. But all this self-induced trauma doesn’t stop Jesus. He keeps saving. He keeps giving Himself.

This text is about Jesus. Believer, even when you too are a little-faith, Jesus continues to do what He came to do. He came to save you. While you were dead in sin and an enemy of God, Jesus came to save you. When you look at this text, see the gracious nature and attitude of your Savior. Truly, He is the Son of God. Truly, He has come to save you. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Listen here.

Matthew 14:13-21—Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. ¹⁴ When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

¹⁵ Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” ¹⁶ But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” ¹⁷ They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” ¹⁸ And he said, “Bring them here to me.” ¹⁹ Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. ²⁰ And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. ²¹ And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Matthew records two events between last week’s text and this week’s text. First, Jesus returns to His hometown of Nazareth where He is rejected. The last verse of Mt. 13 is downright depressing, “[Jesus] did not do any mighty works there because of their unbelief.” Then, ch. 14 opens up by telling about the death of John the Baptizer. Herod had decided to make John a little shorter and beheaded him. But then when Herod heard about all the things Jesus was doing, he was worried that John had risen from the dead.

Anyway, John’s disciples bury John’s body and go to tell Jesus. Now our text, “When Jesus heard [about John’s death], He withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by Himself.” After hearing about the death of His cousin, friend, and forerunner, Jesus wishes to take some time to be by Himself – understandably so. But it doesn’t work. The crowds learn about it, follow, and find Him in that desolate place. Now pause for a minute: This is the same word that was used to describe the type of place Jesus was when He was tempted by Satan, just after He had been baptized by John. It is also used to describe the wilderness where the people of Israel wandered for forty years. It is a desert wilderness, the place of demons, and the haunt of jackals. The crowds seek Him anyway.

Jesus sees these crowds and “has compassion on them,” and He spends the better part of a day healing them. Morning is long gone, lunch is past, the afternoon is getting late, and toward evening the disciples say to Jesus, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”

Maybe they were trying to look out for their grieving Master. Jesus is compassionate, but even His compassion has to have its limits, right? Or maybe the disciples were tired and wanted to be alone too, after all, some of them had been John’s disciples before they were Jesus’ disciples. And their request of Jesus isn’t too uncompassionate. The people will need to eat, and there’s no food around here.

But look at what Jesus says, don’t miss it. “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” If I were one of the disciples, I’d be thinking (if not saying), “Good one, Jesus. Remember, You called us to be fishers of men, not caterers for massive crowds. That’s not in my job description.”

But Jesus is serious. “You give them something to eat.”

“Is this some kind of joke, Jesus? All we can scrape together is five loaves and two fish.”

“Bring them here to Me,” Jesus says. Then He makes an announcement, “Ok everybody, sit down in the grass with your family.” He tells the disciples, “I’ll take that food, boys.” Then He prays, “The eyes of all look to You, O Lord, and You give them their food in due season. You open Your hand; You satisfy the desire of every living thing. Lord God, heavenly Father, bless us, and these Your gifts which we receive from Your bountiful goodness. Amen.”

Then, what happens? Jesus gives the bead to the disciples and maybe repeats Himself, “You give them something to eat.” And the disciples do – with their own hands, they feed the crowds. Now, of course, the disciples wouldn’t take any credit for all of this. They didn’t provide or multiply the food – Jesus did. They didn’t do anything miraculous – Jesus did. They simply were God’s vehicles to get God’s provision to God’s people.

Five thousand men plus women and children ate. They all had enough to chew on. But Jesus didn’t supply enough food just to keep the crowds on their feet. He didn’t just supply enough so everyone could be filled. He started with barely enough food to fill a lunchbox. But after everyone in that throng of people ate until they were full, the disciples collected twelve baskets – one for each of them – full of leftovers.

After the resurrection, Jesus told Peter, “Feed My sheep” (Jn. 21:17). This command was given to Peter, but it also applicable to all apostles and pastors. “Feed My sheep. You give them something to eat.” Can I speak to you as your pastor about your pastor? Through you, God has called your pastor here to feed you. In the same way, God has called your pastor here telling him, “Feed My sheep. You give them something to eat.”

You know what, your pastor doesn’t even have two loaves to rub together. I can tell you without a doubt, your pastor has the same shortcomings, the same doubts, the same failures as you do. Your pastor suffers the same disappointments you do, faces the same temptations you do, and commits the same sins you do. But, for some reason, God has seen it fit to send this broken, fallen sheep to shepherd this congregation. If anything is done, it is only because God is doing it. Your pastor is simply the vehicle that brings God’s gifts in Word and Sacrament.

God does the same through you too. God is at work through each one of you. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do. God is using you to feed, clothe, shelter, heal, provide for, and protect people around you because God has compassion for them. And, yes, you fail. You grudgingly go to work sometimes only to ensure that you get the paycheck that will provide shelter for your family. You get tired of preparing meals for kids who complain about everything you set before them. You aren’t content with what God has given and you covet after more. You aren’t kind enough, and you aren’t thankful enough. But God keeps on giving.
Most importantly, God keeps giving you His forgiveness for your failure and sin. He has given it to you already today through the Absolution. And if you doubt that that forgiveness proclaimed through your pastor is really for you, He gives you forgiveness that cannot miss in Communion, in Bread and Wine, in His very body and blood given unto death on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins. Strengthened by this food, this little meal, God gives you a lot to chew on. Your God equips you and sends you back out into this broken world with sins forgiven and hearts full of joy. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Listen here.

Matthew 13:44-52—⁴⁴ “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

⁴⁵ “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, ⁴⁶ who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

⁴⁷ “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. ⁴⁸ When it was full, men drew it on the beach and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. ⁴⁹ So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous ⁵⁰ and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

⁵¹ “Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.” ⁵² And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

In these final three parables of Matthew 13, Jesus continues to teach what the kingdom of heaven looks like. Remember, please that our word kingdom can sometimes be misleading when we try to understand the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven is not a country or piece of land defined by boarders. Instead, the kingdom of heaven is the active, saving reign and rule of God in Jesus Christ. Jesus came to earth announcing the reign of heaven was at hand and His every action brought that reign.

Jesus faced opposition as He ministered and brought the reign of heaven. As you look back to the context of Mt. 12 and 13, you see that Jesus is being rejected. The crowds do not believe Him, the Pharisees are seeking to destroy Him, and even Jesus’ own family is trying to get Him to quit teaching because things aren’t going so hot. But this opposition and rejection doesn’t stop Jesus. In fact, Jesus tells seven parables in Matthew 13 to teach that the reign of heaven is still going on despite the obvious adversity.

Jesus begins with the Parable of the Sower and the Seed which teaches that there is nothing wrong with the seed, which He explains is the Word. The problem is that people are rejecting it. Jesus continues with the Parable of the Weeds and the Wheat which shows that Satan is actively trying to disrupt and ruin God’s saving action in Jesus, but the parable teaches that the devil will fail and God will triumph. The Parable of the Mustard Seed shows that the operation of the reign of heaven begins small, but it spreads out – way out. The Parable of the Yeast shows that the reign of heaven will penetrate into the whole world even though it won’t look very impressive most of the time.

Our text today continues with three more parables about the active reign of heaven as it comes in Jesus. Jesus teaches these final three parables to His twelve disciples privately and not to the crowds.

First, the Parable of the Hidden Treasure: Now some take this parable as though we sinners go out into a field and find the reign of heaven, then, once we find it, we should  give up everything we have to take possession of the kingdom. But there is a problem with this. In every other parable in this chapter, Jesus Himself is the main character. We should carry this theme into to these parables as well. Jesus is the man who finds a treasure out in a field.

In Jesus’ day, landowners didn’t have mineral rights. If you there was treasure in your field but you don’t know about it, the treasure doesn’t belong to you. Notice also that the man who finds the treasure doesn’t lift the treasure up If the man is employed by the landowner (and he likely is even though the parable doesn’t state that explicitly) he is obligated to tell the owner about the treasure. Instead, the man simply covers the treasure, goes, and sells all that he has in order to buy the field. Since he knows about the treasure, once he buys the field, the treasure is his.

Copyright: Edward Riojas. Used by permission

Now, back when Jesus explained the parable about the weeds and the wheat, Jesus said that the field was the world (lit. the κόσμος). So picture Jesus walking through the field of the world and coming across this treasure. What is this treasure?  It is you – you who are dead in sin and caught in a box that you cannot escape from. Remember back in our OT text (Dt. 7:6-9), God said that His people were His treasured possession. They weren’t a treasure because they were so great and so many and so mighty. They were treasured because God loved them.

Jesus puts another parable before the disciples about the reign of heaven being like a merchant who is searching for fine pearls, but He finds one so valuable that He sells all that He has and buys it. Though Jesus was in the form of God, He did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself of everything. He did this by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Php. 2:6-8).

Jesus puts one final parable before the disciples. The reign of heaven is like a net that is thrown into the sea. This net gathers up every kind of thing. Interestingly, Jesus, as He tells the parable, doesn’t even use the word fish; our English translations just insert it. Imagine throwing a net into the Red River. What would you find once you pulled up that net – empty bottles, slimy camping pots, all sorts of garbage, animal corpses, and, to be sure, fish. Once the net is filled up, the angels will draw it up on the beach, sit down, and sort the good stuff into containers but throw away the bad (lit. ‘rotten’).

This parable tells us that the day will come when the evil and the righteous will be separated. Our epistle text (Ro. 8:28-39) makes clear that Jesus, the Son of God who died for the sins of the world and rose again, is the one who condemns. He will direct the angels as they sort out whatever the net catches. He can use a little elbow grease to shine up that slimy camping pot. Who knows what kind of valuable thing He can make with a broken bottle? Jesus will tell the angels who is good, justified, and righteous, and He will tell the angels who is rotten and evil.

This whole world is filled with rotten, evil people. So is this room – this sanctuary. Every last one of us here is rotten and evil. But God in Christ found us all broken, dead, and rotten in sin. He found us, treasured us, and gave everything He had in order to purchase us back by giving His life – His body and His blood – on the cross.

“Everybody, even the worst stinker on earth, is somebody for whom Christ died” (Capon). Just as a hospital is a place for the sick, the church is a place for sinners. We are misrepresenting Christ if we act otherwise. The righteous and just are righteous are righteous and just only because of the free gift of Jesus’ righteousness. This righteousness has been offered to all. But even though Jesus has given this righteousness to everyone some decided they don’t like it and demand to be accepted just as they are, but they won’t be.

After finishing these parables, Jesus asks the disciples, “Have you understood all these things?” That is a scary question for a teacher to ask. The disciples give a quick Yes answer.

Jesus gives a blessing – to them and to you. “Every scribe (not meaning the religious group who sought along with the Pharisees to kill Him, but everyone who learns the Word of God) Every scribe who has been discipled for the reign of heaven is like a master of a house (lit. ‘house despot’), who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”

Did you catch that? Loaded up with the teaching of these parables, which we have only scratched the surface of, believer, you are like the master of a mansion full of treasure. And you can be glad to give these treasures away because there is simply so stinking much of it.

Believer, be at peace knowing that though you were dead in sin, Jesus found you. He treasured you. And He joyfully went and sold all He had to make you His own. Rejoice because He has promised that there is nothing in all creation which will separate you from His love (Ro. 8:38-39). He who has ears, let him hear. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Listen here.

Matthew 13:24-43—²⁴ He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, ²⁵ but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. ²⁶ So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. ²⁷ And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ ²⁸ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ ²⁹ But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. ³⁰ Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

³¹He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. ³²It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

³³He told them another parable. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.” ³⁴All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. ³⁵This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet:

“I will open my mouth in parables;
I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.”

³⁶Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” ³⁷ He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. ³⁸ The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, ³⁹ and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. ⁴⁰ Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. ⁴¹ The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, ⁴² and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³ Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

It is an age-old question: If God exists and is all-powerful, why is there still evil in this world? We ask this question all the time. Why are babies murdered in their mother’s womb when the eggs of endangered species are protected? Why are dangerous murderers released from prison only to kill again? Why are godly Christians allowed to suffer? Why do the sons of the evil one have so much freedom to work their harm and damage in this world?

People throughout history have been asking this question – even people in Jesus’ day. Jesus came proclaiming, “The reign of heaven is at hand” (Mk. 1:15). He brought that reign with Him as He proclaimed forgiveness, healed the sick, and raised the dead. Jesus won the final victory over sin, death, and the devil on the cross. Yet two thousand years later, it still appears as though evil has the upper hand. Generation after generation of Christians have all thought that it can’t get worse. The evil of sin in this fallen world continues to progress, and believers think that this world can’t last with so much evil. Even we Christians doubt the salvation that Jesus really, truly brought. Jesus came and brought the reign of heaven, but we forget that. We forget that when we allow the evil around us to cause doubt in our minds.

As the crowds stand on the beach, Jesus sits in the boat teaching the crowds of people who do not believe in Him and have hardened their hearts. Jesus teaches them in parables about the reign of heaven that He brings. And He says that the reign of heaven does not look like what we would expect. The reign of heaven isn’t a place. Instead, it is the action of God which is made manifest in the person of Jesus Christ.

After explaining the Parable of the Sower privately to the disciples, Jesus teaches the crowds another parable that has to do with seed and harvest to describe what the action of God’s reign looks like, and it is scandalous.

The reign of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but in the night an enemy comes and sows weeds. The weeds Jesus speaks about look identical to wheat as they grow, but at harvest time the grains of this weed are a different color than the wheat. The servants of the master ask if they should go and go and gather the weeds, but take careful note of what the master says:

“No, lest in gathering the weeds you mistake the weeds for wheat and uproot the wheat along with the needs. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at that time I will tell the reapers to first gather the weeds and burn them. Then gather the wheat into my barn.”

Pause here: note that word “let” – it is the same word that gets translated most often in the New Testament as “forgive.” The Lord extends grace – even to the weeds – until the harvest time. Then, and only then, will the weeds be separated from the wheat.

The crowds would be shocked by this parable. What kind of farmer would ever do something as foolish as to let the weeds remain alongside the wheat? How can God’s action in this world be so gracious and patient? This is absolutely absurd.

Jesus puts two other parables before the crowds to explain what the reign  of heaven – God’s saving action in the world – looks like:

God’s saving action in the world looks like a tiny mustard seed which is planted and hidden under the soil. It doesn’t look like much to begin with, and it looks like nothing once it is planted and hidden in the ground. But it will grow and become the largest plant in the garden – so large that birds will nest in it.

God’s saving action in the world looks like a woman who put some yeast in three measures of flour. This amount of flour will produce over one hundred pounds of dough. Once the yeast is in there, you do not see the yeast at work, and it will be impossible to remove all of it. But once the yeast is in the flour, you can’t stop it from spreading throughout every last bit of the dough.

These parables teach that the reign of heaven is small and hidden, but just wait. It will be huge eventually. The reign of heaven is little and invisible to the eye, but it will fill every last bit of dough. The reign of will permeate everything.

After these parables, Jesus leaves the shore and returns to the house. The disciples ask Jesus to explain the parable of the weeds of the field. Jesus gives the disciples, those who believe His words, more hope than the parable would give to the crowds who have rejected Him and do not believe Him. Point by point Jesus explains the aspects of the parable to the disciples:

• The one who sows the good seed is Me, the Son of Man.
• The field is the world (the κόσμος).
• The good seed is the sons of the reign.
• The weeds are the sons of the evil one.
• The enemy who sowed the weeds is the devil.
• The harvest is the end of the age.
• The reapers are angels.

Only at the end of the age will Christ send the angels to gather out of His kingdom the causes of sin and law-breakers and throw them into the fiery furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the reign of their Father.

We wrongly wait for and anticipate with rabid desire God’s judgment to come upon evil. We forget that God’s grace extends even to the weeds. Christ, the Master, says, “Let (allow, forgive, permit) both to grow together until the time of the harvest.”

We live in a fallen world where there is evil and sin. But that evil and sin does not thwart God’s saving action in Jesus Christ. He is the tiny mustard seed which has been planted and will grow. He is the yeast which has been placed into the three measures of flower and will leaven the whole massive mound of dough. Even if you don’t see what you ought to see in your life, even if you don’t see what you ought so see in the church, even if you don’t see what you ought so see in the world, God absolutely is acting in your life, in the Church, and in the world through Jesus and His reign – forgiving your sin and extending His grace to the whole world until the great and awesome day.

Living in this fallen world, we often wish that God would come and eradicate the weeds. Even if He doesn’t uproot the evil weeds continually, we wish that God periodically destroy those sons of the devil every year, or every five years, or every fifty years. But He simply will not. For now, this is what we get.

“God may seem slow, but He is never late” (Gibbs). God is still Lord over the field of this world. In His time, and only in His time, will evil be punished by His righteous decree. Until then, believer, live as His children among the weeds covered with in God’s forgiveness which extends even to the wicked – even to you. He who has ears, let him hear. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Listen here.

Matthew 13:1-23—That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. ² And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach.

³ And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. ⁴ And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. ⁵ Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, ⁶ but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. ⁷ Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. ⁸ Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. ⁹ He who has ears, let him hear.”

¹⁰ Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” ¹¹ And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. ¹² For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. ¹³ This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. ¹⁴ Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:

‘You will indeed hear but never understand,
and you will indeed see but never perceive.”

¹⁵ For this people’s heart has grown dull,
and with their ears they can barely hear,
and their eyes they have closed,

         lest they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears

and understand with their heart and turn,
and I would heal them.’

¹⁶ But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. ¹⁷ For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

¹⁸ “Hear then the parable of the sower: ¹⁹ When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. ²⁰ As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, ²¹ yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. ²² As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. ²³ As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Jesus has already had a busy day. This day began back in Mt. 12:1 with Jesus and His disciples walking through grainfields. The disciples were hungry so they plucked heads of grain and ate them. The Pharisees accused Jesus that His disciples were breaking the Sabbath laws. But Jesus insists that He is Lord of the Sabbath (12:1-8). Jesus then goes on to enter the synagogue and heals a man with a withered hand. This really sets the Pharisees off and they conspired against Jesus to destroy Him (12:9-14). But Jesus knows they want to destroy Him, so He withdraws from the synagogue and heals all sorts of people. A demon possessed man is brought to Him, and Jesus heals the man. The Pharisees accuse Jesus of casting out demons by Beelzebul. Jesus proves that their accusation is absolute nonsense (12:15-37).

What happens next is almost comical. Some of the scribes and Pharisees make a request of Jesus. They ask, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from You” (12:38). Jesus tells them that He will give them no sign except the sign of the prophet Jonah – i.e. His death and resurrection (12:39-45). After this, Jesus’ mother and brothers come to find Him and get Him to stop talking. But Jesus says that His mother and brothers are the disciples who believe in Him (12:46-50).

Now we come to our text: “That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. And great crowds gathered about Him, so that He got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach” (13:1-2). The disciples were probably relieved. Jesus is getting away from the opposition, and He is going to teach again similar to how He did in the Sermon on the Mount. When Jesus taught on that mountain, He opened up God’s Word and made it plain and clear, and the people were astonished at Jesus teaching and authority (7:28-29).

But Jesus teaches with the parable of the Sower and the Seed, and the disciples don’t like this. They are disappointed. “Why do You speak to them in parables?” they ask (13:10). It is as if the disciples are saying, “Jesus, don’t You see how much trouble You’ve stirred up today. People are rejecting Your message. The Pharisees hate You, and You are separating us from the crowds and even Your own family. Now, You are teaching in parables? Come on, clear things up! Teach them plainly so they can understand.”

Jesus answers them, “I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. You disciples, you see, hear, and understand. But they have hardened their hearts. So even what they have will be taken away.”

A couple of things to note about this: First, see that Jesus is still teaching to them. He is still graciously preaching the Word of God and bringing the reign of God to the crowds who have rejected Him. Second, see that by teaching them in parables, Jesus is acknowledging the reality of the situation – He is teaching outsiders. He is teaching people who have rejected Him (Gibbs). If the outsiders are treated as outsiders, maybe, they will wake up and become insiders. Maybe they will stop rejecting God’s Word.

Now, Jesus explains the whole parable to the disciples.

Jesus explains that the seed is the “Word of the reign [of God]” (more on this in a minute). The Word is sown in all sorts of places where normal farmers wouldn’t want to waste good seed. Some falls on the path and is devoured by birds. Sometimes, Satan simply snatches away the message, and the hearers never believe. These satanic birds don’t even give the seed a chance to sprout. This sounds terrible, but what happens when birds eat seeds? Right, eventually, they have to “get rid” of them – if you know what I mean. The seed is not on the original soil anymore, but it is still good seed and can still sprout, if it lands on good soil.

Some seed falls on rocky ground. That seed sprouts up, but soon dies. Some people hear Jesus and believe, but there is no soil so there are no roots. Tribulation or persecution comes and the plant immediately withers.

Some seed falls among thorns. These people hear and believe Jesus, but they get chocked out by the cares and worries of this world.

Notice, most of the ground where the seed falls fails to produce.

Consider for a moment, do you see yourself in any of these three types of ground? Do you hear the Word of God and forget about it right away? Or do you find yourself falling away when trials and persecutions come your way? Do the things of this world choke and strangle you?

Repent. Soil can’t make itself good. Soil needs to be worked over to become good soil. Pray. Pray that God will work you over so that you will become good soil. That work may be unpleasant and hard, but it will produce. Take every advantage available to you to hear the pure Word of God taught rightly. Dig deep. Find the nourishing soil fertilized by the crucified body and blood of your Savior.

Again, most of the ground where the seed falls fails to produce.

But there is a fourth place where the seed falls. Some seed falls upon good ground, and it produces unimaginable amounts of yield. Apparently, even a ten-fold yield is an almost unheard of by farmers. Jesus is saying that this seed is producing thirty, sixty, and even a hundredfold. This is some good, fruitful seed. Jesus doesn’t say exactly what this fruit is, but it likely refers to good works (Mt. 5:13-16). Whatever the fruit is, it is good and there is a plethora of it.

Jesus explains that the seed is the Word. Now, some say that we Christians need to get out there and sow the seed of the Word. They say we need to send pastors and missionaries all over our communities and throughout the world to sow this seed. But that misses the point, and it ignores the Scriptures that teach us that Jesus Himself is the Word of God in the flesh.

Jesus is the Word. Do you see what that means? It means that God the Father is the Sower, and Jesus, God the Son, is the Seed. The Father sowed Jesus in the fullness of time by sending His Son (Gal. 4:4). The Father has sent Jesus. He is the Word who came into the world and enlightens every person (Jn. 1:1f). Jesus became flesh and was sown among us. But many have rejected Him.

Jesus has “already, literally been sown everywhere in the world – and quite without a single bit earthly cooperation or even consent” (Capon see also Ro. 10:18). We Christians produce fruit when we simply bring the Good News of the Word, the Seed of Jesus Christ who is already there. We announce that Jesus is present as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. We proclaim that His cross, His death, His resurrection, and His ascension is already present for them for their forgiveness.

Dear saints, go out in joy, produce good fruit, and proclaim that Jesus has come to forgive the sins of everyone you meet. Announce this Good News to your family, friends, and neighbors. God’s Word will not return to Him empty; it will accomplish the very purpose for which He has already sent it (Is. 55:10-11).

He who has ears, let him hear.  Amen.[1]

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

[1] I am especially indebted to Robert Farrar Capon’s book Kingdom, Grace, Judgment: Parados, Outrage, and Vindication in the Parables of Jesus for this sermon.