For This Purpose I Have Come Forth: St. Mark 1:16-45

St. Mark 1:16-45: "16 And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 17 Then Jesus said to them, 'Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.' 18 They immediately left their nets and followed Him. 19 When He had gone a little farther from there, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets. 20 And immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after Him. 21 Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught. 22 And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. 23 Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, 24 saying, 'Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are--the Holy One of God!' 25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, 'Be quiet, and come out of him!' 26 And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him. 27 Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, 'What is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.' 28 And immediately His fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee. 29 Now as soon as they had come out of the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 But Simon's wife's mother lay sick with a fever, and they told Him about her at once. 31 So He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and immediately the fever left her. And she served them. 32 At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to Him all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed. 33 And the whole city was gathered together at the door. 34 Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew Him. 35 Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed. 36 And Simon and those who were with Him searched for Him. 37 When they found Him, they said to Him, 'Everyone is looking for You.' 38 But He said to them, 'Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth.' 39 And He was preaching in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and casting out demons. 40 Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, 'If You are willing, You can make me clean.' 41 Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, 'I am willing; be cleansed.' 42 As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed. 43 And He strictly warned him and sent him away at once, 44 and said to him, 'See that you say nothing to anyone; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.' 45 However, he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the matter, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city, but was outside in deserted places; and they came to Him from every direction."

Today we leave the Gospel of St. Matthew, and begin reading through the Gospel of St. Mark. In this pericope we have a description of the early ministry of our Lord. This narrative takes place after the temptation of our Lord in the wilderness for 40 days and nights. Our Lord's first task is to call His disciples. These men He had already met shortly after His Baptism, and we can assume that these are the same disciples that are referred to in the Gospel of St. John, who accompanied Him to the wedding at Cana, which happened on the third day after His Baptism.

But our Lord leaves His disciples for awhile and endures the temptation of the devil, so that He might prepare Himself for His ministry. What is His ministry? For what reason did our Lord come? Our Lord tells us Himself, that He has come to preach to the lost and the sinners. He does this preaching in Galilee, which is Zebulun and Naphtali. These were the first kingdoms led away into exile by the Assyrians, when the Northern Kingdom fell. Therefore, our Lord begins His preaching where the darkness of sin is greatest. And, since His disciples are from Galilee, He chooses His first disciples from those who live in the land where the stain of sin and death is greatest. In other words, He chooses as His future vessels to proclaim His word, men who are familiar with sin. St. Peter, who is called Simon in this Gospel, even confesses that He is a sinful, and thereby unworthy man, in another Gospel.

However, our Lord does not consider the man's works, but the man's faith. These men were the first to witness His preaching and miracles, and they were the first to believe that He was the Son of God, the Messiah promised long ago. On account of these men's faith, they would make fine apostles. Indeed, we know that these men did become great apostles. St. James the Elder became the first apostle to suffer martyrdom. His brother outlived all the apostles and his words were the last words of the apostles left as a testimony to their posterity, hence the position of St. John's Gospel as the last, and his epistles and revelation as the close of the canon. St. Andrew would spread the Gospel to far away places, including Scotland and England, and the surrounding isles, and he would suffer the same punishment as our Lord, only on a cross saltire, that is, a cross shaped like an "X." St. Simon Peter would become the leader of the apostles, the man that the others looked to for wisdom and guidance. He would establish churches and Bishops in Alexandria and Rome, where he would also suffer the same fate as our Lord, only upside down, on account that he did not believe himself worthy to die as our Lord did.

These sinful men, who lived in a sinful land would become the preachers of our Lord. And they would be great preachers, for they knew what it meant to be forgiven of their many sins. St. Simon Peter, especially knew this for he denied our Lord three times. But having confessed and repented of his sin, he was forgiven by our Lord, so that he boldly proclaimed this forgivenness in spite of the fear of death.

Our Lord still calls feeble sinful men to proclaim forgiveness. There are some today who think erroneously that this should not be, that ministers of the word should be without sin, and certainly ministers should free from certain public sins, but no minister will be completely free from sin, as in no human being. And this is not a liability but an advantage, for a sinful preacher, knows how to preach about forgiveness. For he knows what it means to be forgiven by our Lord.

And so our Lord, calls these men to follow Him, so that they may be "fishers of men." Then our Lord goes and preaches in this land where sin was most prevalent. That this was so, is shown us by the existence of many demon-possessed individuals. It is clear that this land was solidly controlled by the devil and his demons. The devil had a strangle hold on this land, and our Lord goes directly to his stronghold, and binds him and silences him through His preaching and healing. Our Lord still does this for us today, placing His word where it is needed the most, in the hearts and minds of sinful man, so that He might by His preaching and Sacraments bind and silence the devil and his works, so that we might live in faith and trust that our Lord has forgiveness of our sins, and has destroyed the devil and his works in our midst.

May the Lord give you grace and peace in the knowledge that by His preaching through the voice of a sinful man, who preaches our Lord's forgiveness, your sins are forgiven not only on earth, but also in Heaven.

God be with you!

Deacon Dulas

Follow Me and I Will Make You Fishers of Men: St. Matthew 4:18-25

St. Matthew 4:18-25: "18 And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19 Then He said to them, 'Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.' 20 They immediately left their nets and followed Him. 21 Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him. 23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. 24 Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them. 25 Great multitudes followed Him--from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan."

Today is an holiday. It a day to celebrate the deeds and faith of a beloved saint and man. Today is the festival of the Confession of St. Peter. This mornings reading although not specifically appointed to today's festival, does seem to fit for this day of celebration. This morning's reading has the calling of St. Peter, along with St. Andrew, St. John, and St. James the Elder.

At first glance this pericope from the Evangelist St. Matthew seems to contradict with the Evangelist St. John, since St. John has St. Andrew, and the other disciple who is not named (but probably is St. John) following Jesus the day after His baptism. And in St. John's Gospel, St. Peter is brought to Jesus by St. Andrew. St. Matthew, on the other hand, has Sts. Andrew, Peter, James the Elder and John, being called by Jesus next to the sea of Galilee, while they were fishing. There seems to be an inconsistancy in the two narratives.

There is an explanation for the seeming differences between the two pericopes. The Evangelist St. John relates the first meeting of these disciples with our Lord, however, He does not call them. He only invites them to spend the evening with Him. However, in the Evangelist St. Matthew's narrative our Lord specifically tells them to follow Him. And since they had already met Him and spent time with Him they immediately drop all and follow Him.

Here is what must be kept in mind as far as timeline. Our Lord was baptized, met His disciples, attended the wedding at Cana, and then was led into the wilderness, and spent forty days and nights by Himself. He had preached in Nazareth, and would have been thrown off a cliff if He had not escaped from among them. He moved to Capernaum, next to the sea of Galilee, which is where the disciples from this mornings pericope lived. He then called these four men, three of which became His closest disciples, and accompanied Him whenever He would do something of importance. Shortly after these things, our Lord Jesus cleanses the Temple at the time of the Pasch.

This should shed some light on the seeming incongruity between the two Gospels. However, this is not the main point of this pericope. This reading is all about our Lord beginning His earthly ministry. He begins by calling men that would carry on His message after He ascended into Heaven. These men would spend about three years with our Lord, hearing Him, learning from Him, seeing His miracles that showed them He was in deed the Messiah.

Our Lord's preaching and ministry had an affect on these men. This is why we celebrate today, for one of these men, the Blessed St. Peter, confessed that our Lord was indeed the Son of God, the One promised that would save men from their sin. It was upon this confession that our Lord built the Church. Against this proclamation of the Gospel, which proclaims our Lord Jesus to be the One and only Saviour, the gates of hell cannot prevail. This is the faith which the Church is built upon. The Church is built upon the faith of her children, who believe and trust in their Lord alone for salvation.

Today, after calling His disciples, Sts. Andrew, Peter, James the Elder, and John, our Lord Jesus, goes throughout all Syria, that is, the northern part which used to be Israel, and was the first part of the kingdom to be led into captivity by Assyria, preaching in their synagogues, and healing the sick and demon-possesed. He reveals Himself as the Messiah, the Christ. He reveals Himself as our One and only Saviour. Those who see His deeds, believe on Him, and they follow Him wherever He goes. Those who follow Him are not just the disciples who He specifically calls to follow Him, but also all those from Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and all those beyond the Jordan.

We who have heard His Word in these times also follow Him, for we hear His Word, see His deeds, that is, His Blessed Sacraments, and we are spiritually healed by His gifts. And so, today, we rejoice in the confession of the Blessed St. Peter, and we rejoice that we too have the freedom to confess Him as our One and only Saviour from sin, death, and the devil.

May God be with you!

Deacon Dulas

We Have Found Him of Whom Moses in the Law, And Also the Prophets Wrote: St. John 1:43-51

St. John 1:43-51: "43 The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, 'Follow Me.' 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, 'We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote--Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.' 46 And Nathanael said to him, 'Can anything good come out of Nazareth?' Philip said to him, 'Come and see.' 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, 'Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!' 48 Nathanael said to Him, 'How do You know me?' Jesus answered and said to him, 'Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.' 49 Nathanael answered and said to Him, 'Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!' 50 Jesus answered and said to him, 'Because I said to you, "I saw you under the fig tree," do you believe? You will see greater things than these.' 51 And He said to him, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.'"

There are several things to be pointed out in this pericope: One, after the calling of St. Andrew, the unnamed Apostle, (who is probably St. John) and St. Peter Jesus determines to go to Galilee. There in the hometown of Sts. Peter and Andrew, He finds St. Philip. St. Philip does the same thing that St. Andrew did, he went and told someone else. These Apostles cannot contain their enthusiasm of finding the Messiah. They must tell someone. St. Philip tells St. Nathanael. "We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote--Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." Such a simple sermon. Nothing more needed to be said.

However, in St. Nathanael we see the second thing to be pointed out in this pericope. We see the kind of reaction the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ can have on a person, and that is, doubt. This is especially true of those who have not seen with the eyes of faith the great gifts that our Lord bestows upon us. St. Nathanael had the benefit of seeing with his own eyes, and hearing with his own ears. We today, obviously don't have that luxury, but we do have the eyes and ears of faith, which cling to the preaching of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that tells us of what He has done for us. "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" This is the same disdain that those who desire a Lord and Savior, and a God, of their own choosing.

Our Lord Jesus keeps revealing Himself in simple means and ways. He did not show up in Jerusalem, the holy city where the Temple stood, but He was born in Bethlehem. He was not raised in Jerusalem, in the house of the king, but in a backwater town called Nazareth, in the house of a carpenter and a handmaid. He reveals Himself today and comes to us today in simple means as well. He comes through the preaching of the Word, from some guy dressed in something that looks like a Mediaeval bathrobe. And this guy, who is called Minister, or Reverend, or Deacon, or Pastor, or Elder, or Presbyter, or Father, or Bishop, sometimes may not be all that pleasant to listen to. He has a tendency to "get into our kitchen and root around in our fridge without our permission" and point out our sins and our weaknesses, and our failings. For the most part these men aren't the picture of Adonis, but are more likely the embodiment of the nerdly sort. (This can be seen when you get a bunch of them together, it's like a nerd convention). But through this unlikelly man, our Lord Jesus is preached and taught in His truth and purity, and the sacrifice that He made on the cross for our salvation.

Our Lord Jesus also comes to us in the waters of Holy Baptism. There is nothing special about the water used, it is just tap water. The only rubric about the water is that it must be living water, that is, water that flows, just like the water from the tap. But it is not the water that makes a baptism special and salutary, but it is the Word that is connected to it. That Word is the Name of the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Without these Words, without that Name, it is no baptism, but it is simple water only. And since we have broached the topic of baptism, it should be pointed out that today, January 13, the octave of Epiphany, is the festival of the Baptism of Our Lord. It is the day we rejoice not only in our Lord's Baptism, but in ours as well. This baptism is performed again by the man of God, who is called and ordained for that purpose. This is done by an insignificant man, just like preaching and the other means of grace, so that the Word of our Lord Jesus may be the main thing, and not the man who does them. For it is our Lord alone Who is deserving of honor and praise.

Our Lord Jesus also reveals Himself in the simple words of the Private Absolution. "Your sins are forgiven." I suppose these words could be taken like the words "I love you," depending on who is saying them they could be just words, and not mean anything. However, even though it be a man of God, dressed in a simple cassock and stole, who says these words, it does not matter if he means them or not, because they are not his words, but His Words. It may be a man speaking it, but it is the Lord Jesus Himself Who is saying it to us. So that, we can be certain, that our sins are forgiven by God Himself in heaven.

Our Lord Jesus also reveals Himself to us in the simple forms of bread and wine. In these simple means, our Lord Jesus Christ, gives to us to eat and drink His true and real Body and Blood for the forgiveness of our sins. Again, the bread and wine, are not the main things in the sacrament, but the Words. Those Words being "Given for you," and "Shed for your for the remission of sins."

And our Lord Jesus also reveals Himself through the mutual conversation and consolation of the brethren, that is, wherever two or three are gathered in His Name, there He is in the midst of them. This is the communion of the saints, it is the gathering together of the Body of Christ, into a common people. This takes place in a simple church building. It is silly to think that one can worship by himself. The Church of God is community, and one cannot have a community of himself. This is why parishes are formed, and why dioceses, and synods, and denominations, and the like are formed, because the Church realizes that where two or three are gathered together in the bond of fellowship, there our Lord Jesus Christ is present. And wherever He is present there His gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation are given out in abundance. Where these gifts are given out, there is joy, and love, and peace, and patience, and goodwill, and the like. It is a good place to be.

So here is where the Lord Jesus is to be found, in the simplest of places. St. Nathanael did have the luxury, along with the rest of the Apostles, to see our Lord with their own eyes, to hear Him with their own ears, and to spend three years of their life with Him, learning how to be Apostles and ministers of the Word. St. Nathanael, also believes our Lord Jesus to be the Messiah, after He tells Him something only St. Nathanael would know. We, however, get to see our Messiah and Christ revealed to us today in so many ways, it is hard to believe that so many people disdain these good gifts of our Lord and Savior.

And so, we rejoice this day, knowing that we have been baptized, that we have the opportunity to gather together with other saints, and hear the preaching of Him and what He has done for us, and we have the ability to go to our Bishop, Pastor, or Deacon in private, and confess our sins to him, (which is really a confessing of our sins to Him) and receive absolution from them, as if from God Himself. And we can rejoice especially that on this feast day, we can come to the Lord's house, and with other people, receive the True Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, given to us in bread and wine, for the remission of our sins.

May God be with you!

Deacon Dulas

Come and See: St. John 1:35-42

St. John 1:35-42: "35 Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. 36 And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, 'Behold the Lamb of God!' 37 The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 38 Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, 'What do you seek?' They said to Him, 'Rabbi' (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), 'where are You staying?' 39 He said to them, 'Come and see.' They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour). 40 One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, 'We have found the Messiah' (which is translated, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, 'You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas' (which is translated, A Stone)."

After His baptism our dear Lord Jesus calls His disciples. Notice that this is the next day after His baptism. St. John the Baptist proclaimed yesterday, "Behold the Lamb of God." But it appears that nobody listened. And so, St. John the Baptist repeats the proclamation again today, "Behold the Lamb of God." Two of his disciples, we are told, actually hear and listen to those words, and follow our dear Lord Jesus. We should also take note that our Savior Jesus is there again a second day. And in both St. John the Baptist and our Lord Jesus there is a difference noted by the Evangelist. St. John the Baptist "stood" with his disciples; our Lord Jesus "walked" by the River Jordan. St. John the Baptist's position is fixed, he is to remain at the Jordan and preach repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Our Lord Jesus, however, is mobile, He is to go from place to place preaching repentance for the forgiveness of sins, after St. John the Baptist's imprisonment.

This is also meant in a mystical sense, St. John the Baptist represents the Law, and our dear Lord Jesus is a picture of the Gospel. The Law's punishment ceases with our Lord's coming, and the Gospel's grace begins to "walk about" into all the world.

This grace of the Gospel, begins with our Lord's disciples. We are told that there are two disciples of St. John the Baptist there that day who leave St. John the Baptist, and follow our dear Lord Jesus. The name of one is given here, and that is St. Andrew. Of course his feast day begins the Church Year, this is the honor bestowed upon him as the first to follow our Lord Jesus Christ. We are also told of these two disciples that they remained with our Lord Jesus, and did not return again to St. John the Baptist.

There are couple of things that should be pointed out. One, time of day is given. It is the tenth hour. St. Augustine states that this represents the decalogue, the Ten Commandments. Here in the tenth hour, the disciples call our Lord Jesus, "Rabbi," that is, teacher. The only True teacher of the Law, is the One Who gave the Law. And so, in this tenth hour, the the time had come for the Ten Commandments to be fulfilled by love, that is, the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.

St. Chrysostom, the Golden-tongued, tells us that the tenth hour makes note of the lateness of this scene. The tenth hour is 4 p.m. For some people that is quitting time, it's the time for the work to be over. For others, it is the time to eat, or at least start getting dinner ready. This time of year in the northern part of the country it is even beginning to get dark. However, our Lord doesn't say, "It's getting late, why don't you come back tomorrow." Instead, He invites them with the Gospel invitation of "come and see," that is, come by believing, and see by understanding. What a great evening that must have been for St. Andrew, and the other disciple not named! They had heard the preaching of St. John the Baptist about the Messiah to come, but now they were hearing Him with their own ears. That must have been totally awe-full! For St. Andrew, in fact, it was so full of awe, that he runs and tells his brother St. Peter, who in turn comes and meets our Lord Jesus, and receives a new name, that is, Cephas, or A Stone (his previous name being Simon).

The second thing to make note of is that, as mentioned above, the second disciple is not named. It is believed that this second disciple was the writer of the Gospel, the Evangelist St. John, the beloved of our Lord. If this be true, we can assume that just like St. Andrew, went and told St. Peter, that St. John the Evangelist, went and told his brother, St. James the Elder. This would hold significance, because whenever our Lord Jesus takes disciples off with Himself to a private place, St. Peter, St. James, and St. John are always the ones being listed. It makes one wonder, why the first disciple, St. Andrew, is not included in this, but we are not told, nor does it seem to bother St. Andrew, for he indeed walked far and wide with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, proclaiming him the Messiah. He didn't stop with his brother St. Peter, but according to legend ended up in Scotland and the surrounding areas, and brought the Gospel to them, and became their patron saint.

St. Andrew serves as an example to us. Upon hearing the words of our Lord, he is filled with joy. The words that our dear Lord Jesus spoke revealed that He was the Messiah. When we hear the preaching that our Lord and Savior is indeed the Messiah, that is, the Christ, the Anointed One, Who was sent to fulfill the Law perfectly for us, and to suffer and die for us, we too are filled with joy. And like St. Andrew, who spread that message abroad, just like the rest of the Apostles, we too, should run to all who would listen, and say to them, "Come and see, we have found the Messiah." We find the Messiah today in the Church, where the Word of God is taught in its truth and purity, and the Sacraments are administered according to Christ's institution. To these parishes, must all those who are lost, all those who would listen, and like St. Peter, come willing without a question of doubt, be brought by our invitation. Come and see! Come and hear of the Messiah, our Savior, and learn of joy and love.

God's peace be with you!

Deacon Dulas