He Who Blasphemes Against the Holy Spirit Never Has Forgiveness: St. Mark 3:1-35

St. Mark 3:1-35: "1 And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. 2 So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. 3 And He said to the man who had the withered hand, 'Step forward.' 4 Then He said to them, 'Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?' But they kept silent. 5 And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, 'Stretch out your hand.' And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. 6 Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him. 7 But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea. And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea 8 and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how many things He was doing, came to Him. 9 So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude, lest they should crush Him. 10 For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to touch Him. 11 And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, 'You are the Son of God.' 12 But He sternly warned them that they should not make Him known. 13 And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. 14 Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, 15 and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons: 16 Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter; 17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, 'Sons of Thunder'; 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite; 19 and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. And they went into a house. 20 Then the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread. 21 But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, 'He is out of His mind.' 22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, 'He has Beelzebub,' and, 'By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.' 23 So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables: 'How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end. 27 No one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house. 28 Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; 29 but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation'--30 because they said, 'He has an unclean spirit.' 31 Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him. 32 And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, 'Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You.' 33 But He answered them, saying, 'Who is My mother, or My brothers?' 34 And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, 'Here are My mother and My brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.'"

This pericope spans several topics, however, we will concentrate on just one. The teaching that blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is the unforgivable sin. Our Lord likens this sin to a battle; a house divided against itself. This can be pictured by reflecting upon a civil war. When a nation wars against itself the nation is torn apart, and is left desolate, on both sides of the war. We can see this from our own nation's past, where differing states from the North and South battled for political reasons. In this war more American soldiers were killed than in any other war in its history. The South was left demolished, and it took many years to rebuild it. In fact, after the war, it took many years for the nation to recover as a whole.

The point is that when a house is divided, nobody wins. It is impossible for good to triumph. The same is true about our Lord Jesus, if He is casting out demons by Beelzebub, as He is accused of, how can Satan stand. For Satan desires the destruction of the human race. He loves when the human race is divided against itself. Therefore, Satan, being evil, will not allow his demons to be cast out of people, for in so doing he is doing damage to himself. Therefore, he cannot win, if he is warring against himself.

Our Lord, however, shows how the devil is defeated, and in so doing, reveals that He is not in league with Satan, but is in fact His enemy. For He is the One Who binds the strong man, which is the devil, and plunders his house, that is, this world. Therefore our Lord destroys the devils abode, cleansing it and making it ready for His Word to be preached and taught to the whole world through His Apostles, who are named in this reading. Our Lord then goes on to say that the one who accuses Him of being in league with the devil, knowing that the things He does are from God, is committing an unforgiveable sin; Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost.

This teaching of the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost, has led to many misunderstandings about its meaning, and intention. With the assistance of the Early Fathers, we will attempt to clean up some of the mess of teachings.* 

Blasphemy against our Lord, although a very great sin, can be forgiven after repentance, for our Lord was born of a lowly birth, and lived as a man. However, blasphemy against God will not be forgiven. And since the work of the Holy Spirit is to increase the kingdom of God, which shows that He is God, blasphemy against Him will not be tolerated, in this world or the next. What that means is committing this sin warrants eternal damnation. This is a very grave sentence, and causes stern consternation among those of us who desire not to be guilty of such a sin.

But we can take comfort in the fact that this sin is tied to the parable of the strong man, and the division of a house, for only those who try to prevent or limit the work of the Holy Spirit, or make His work out to be something it is not, which in reality is just preventing and limiting His work, are guilty of this sin. Part of this preventing the work of the Holy Spirit, is impenitence. For the Holy Spirit's task is to forgive sins, which He does through the means of grace that our Lord Jesus instituted for our use, but those who refuse forgiveness, or those who do not believe that their actions, thoughts, and words are sinful, remain in impenitence, and therefore cannot be forgiven. This means they have blasphemed the Holy Ghost, and have condemned themselves to eternal damnation.

To carry this thought further, those who live in impenitence, have divided themselves against the Church, and by virtue of the unity of the Church with our Lord, that is, they are Bride and Bridegroom, or Husband and Wife, if they are not in unity with the Church, they are not in unity with our Lord. Again, a house divided against itself, cannot stand. Nor can the impenitent stand in the day of judgment, for they have divided themselves from our Lord. St. Ambrose** carries this idea further by stating that the heretics, like Arius, who divided the Holy Trinity, commit the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost, for they divide the Church. Therefore, all those who cause divisions in the Church, by teaching false doctrine, (we are not talking about the divisions that are naturally caused because some hold to the Truth) are blaspheming against the Holy Ghost, for they are dividing the house against itself, and sadly they are leading men into their false teachings and ultimately to their eternal damnation.

This is why it is important to remain faithful to our Lord's teachings, using as our source and norm, holy Scripture, and checking our teachings and what our church body teaches against what holy Scripture teaches. We must also examine and know our enemy the devil, which includes knowing the false teachings that have popped up from generation to generation, to see that we do not make the same mistake those who followed those false teachers have done. We must also recognize, and act upon that recognition when our church body no longer follows the teachings of the historic, apostolic, and catholic (that is, universal) Church. We cannot remain in a church body that teaches falsely, and still expect to be in unity with our Lord. For a house divided against itself cannot stand.

It is especially sad when a church body is content to go with the status quo, and through inaction, refuses to check and re-check her doctrine, so that after many errors have crept in through apathy, people blindly follow these errors, neither knowing, nor caring about the truth. This why a church body must always be concerned about the doctrine that she upholds, and hold the ministers under her care accountable for the doctrines and practice. The same thing is true of ministers and their parishes, they have a duty and obligation to make sure that what their parishes preach and practice are in line with what our Lord taught, and what He instituted to be done in His Church. All this is done to promote true unity and fellowship. And where true unity and fellowship exist, there also exists love and trust among those who are united in doctrine and practice.

Our Lord is indeed abundant in His grace. And even in this pericope He does not accuse the scribes from Jerusalem of blasphemy, but rather warns them of the danger of this sin. This warning serves for us as well. It is an admonition to strive after truth and purity in preaching. It is an admonition to repentance, confessing our sins to our Heavenly Father. It is an admonition to beware of false teachers, who desire, as agents of the devil, to divide and spoil the Church of God on earth. And it is an admonition to unity and fellowship, boldly holding firm to the teachings of our Lord Jesus, which He passed down to us, through His holy Apostles. May our Lord Jesus ever keep you in the One True Faith.

God be with you!

Deacon Dulas

* What follows is a combination of the writings of St. Chrysostom and St. Augustine from the Catena Aurea of St. Thomas Aquinas.

** de Fide, i.1

So She Called His Name Moses: Exodus 2:1-25

Exodus 2:1-25: "1 And a man of the house of Levi went and took as wife a daughter of Levi. 2 So the woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months. 3 But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river's bank. 4 And his sister stood afar off, to know what would be done to him. 5 Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river. And her maidens walked along the riverside; and when she saw the ark among the reeds, she sent her maid to get it. 6 And when she had opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby wept. So she had compassion on him, and said, 'This is one of the Hebrews' children.' 7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, 'Shall I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?' 8 And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, 'Go.' So the maiden went and called the child's mother. 9 Then Pharaoh's daughter said to her, 'Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.' So the woman took the child and nursed him. 10 And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. So she called his name Moses, saying, 'Because I drew him out of the water.' 11 Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. 12 So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 And when he went out the second day, behold, two Hebrew men were fighting, and he said to the one who did the wrong, 'Why are you striking your companion?' 14 Then he said, 'Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?' So Moses feared and said, 'Surely this thing is known!' 15 When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well. 16 Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. And they came and drew water, and they filled the troughs to water their father's flock. 17 Then the shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock. 18 When they came to Reuel their father, he said, 'How is it that you have come so soon today?' 19 And they said, 'An Egyptian delivered us from the hand of the shepherds, and he also drew enough water for us and watered the flock.' 20 So he said to his daughters, 'And where is he? Why is it that you have left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.' 21 Then Moses was content to live with the man, and he gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses. 22 And she bore him a son, and he called his name Gershom; for he said, 'I have been a stranger in a foreign land.' 23 Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. 24 So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them."

Today we get introduced to Moses. Therefore we have the narrative of how Moses came to be born, and how he came to be named and raised among the Egyptians. This chapter is contrasted with the first chapter, where Pharaoh was consumed with the extermination of the Jewish nation. In this chapter we are shown how God plans to deliver them from extermination. It begins with a man, a levite, who we learn from other sections of holy Scripture (later in Exodus, Numbers) that his name was Amram, a Kohathite, meaning he was descended from Kohath. He also married a descendant of Levi, one of Israel's sons, her name we learn from other places in holy Scripture is Jochebed.

We are told here about the birth of Moses, because he will become the vessel of God's deliverance of the Jews, but it should be pointed out that Moses is not the firstborn. Aaron was born before him, and in this chapter we also hear of Moses sister Miriam, who was not a little girl as is depicted in some movies, but was a young woman, since she is referred to as a "maiden," which commonly means young woman. It also referred to someone who was not married, and therefore would be a virgin, but that is another post. Aaron and Miriam, however, were born before the Pharaoh's edict from chapter one to drown all Hebrew baby boys in the River.

It is this edict that causes Moses mother, Jochebed, to hide him away from the Egyptians for the first three months of his life. It is when she can no longer hide him, that he ends up in the River, but not to be drowned, but to be saved. For he is saved from the waters by floating in a small ark. Moses is the new Noah. The one who saves his people by being saved in an ark.

The fact that Moses is drawn out of the water, which is what his name means "drawn out of the waters," also likens him to Noah. And in a certain sense is a picture of Holy Baptism, where the infant is drawn out of the waters, having received the Triune God's Name, and being saved from his sin. There is even theological meaning in Moses' name, for the one who was drawn out, will become the drawer out of the people of Israel.

Also it should be pointed out, contrary to popular movies supposedly portraying these events, that the princess of Egypt knew that Moses was a Hebrew boy, and in spite of the Pharaoh's edict (her own father) and on account of her compassion for the crying baby boy, she saves him. Moses grew up his whole life knowing he was a Hebrew, it wasn't some surprising shock years later, when he discovers a silly blanket. No thank you, Hollywood! In fact, because the sister of Moses, Miriam, follows the ark until the princess finds it, and tells her that she knows someone who can feed the child, the princess tells her to bring the person, who just happens to be his real mother. Therefore, Moses lived with his family until he was weaned, probably about two years old, and then went to live with the princess. And we can assume that the princess paid regular visits to the family of Moses to keep in touch with the lad. Not only that, but Moses mother, Jochebed, was paid to take care of her own child. Pretty sweet deal!

We also learn from other places in holy Scripture, that Moses was fully trained in all the knowledge of Egypt. This is saying something, for at that time, Egypt was the cultural epicenter of the world. It was the place where knowledge was it's greatest. And so, we see from this that our Lord God, uses the wisdom of the world to train his future servant, so that he might use the wisdom of God to thwart the wisdom of the world. Our Almighty Lord's hand is seen in all of this, from Moses birth, to his rescue, to his upbringing.

However, Moses is not perfect. He is a murderer, a sinner. Again, our Lord chooses men who according to the world's eyes are not worthy. But God's ways our not our ways. He uses the frail, the weak, the unworthy, in order to call all the other unworthy ones, so that He might make them worthy through His holy Word. And for the Israelites this man would become Moses, for he would deliver the people of God from Pharaoh.

There are a few things missing from this narrative that cause one to ponder: First, usually there was a prophecy concerning the baby who would perform great things. However, there is no prophecy of Moses, not of his birth, nor of the rescue of the Israelites. Second, we are not told how Moses was accepted into Pharaoh's home, when he clearly wanted the Hebrew boys killed. We can assume that since he continued to be raised in Pharaoh's home, that perhaps he took a liking to the boy, after all, it is said of him that he was a beautiful child. Third, we are not told how Moses maintained his faith in the One True God, in the midst of learning all the knowledge of Egypt. We are only shown that this is true in his murder of the Egyptian task master (representive of the enemies of God) and in his trying to break up a fight between two of his fellow Jews. We are told from St. Stephen's retelling of the narrative, that Moses was forty years old when this happened, so he wasn't young and impetuous, but had lived a fairly decent amount of time.

We see in these actions of Moses, his belief that he could be used by God to deliver the Israelite nation. However, his brothers did not understand it. It wasn't his time, another forty years would pass before that happened. But in this we can see our own and the world's stiff-neckedness. For God desires to deliver us, and sends us ministers to deliver us through His holy Word and Sacraments, but we and the world "understand it not." We do not see that the Lord desires us to be saved us through such simple means. Perhaps it's because we would rather be saved from sin and death, by more extraordinary means, but this is not how our Lord desires to save us.

Therefore we see our Lord's providence in sending the people of Israel a deliver, that is, Moses. God plans to rescue His people who are trapped in the bondage of slavery, and are oppressed by the enemy, Egypt. Our Lord delivers us from the bondage of slavery to sin, and frees us from the oppression of the enemy the devil. Just as Moses was drawn out of waters and saved, so too are we drawn out of the waters of Holy Baptism, and are saved from our sins. And through His holy Word, he keeps us in this salvation, unto life everlasting.

May God be with you!

Deacon Dulas

Son, Your Sins Are Forgiven You: St. Mark 2:1-28

St. Mark 2:1-28: "1 And again He entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. 2 Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them. 3 Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. 4 And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, 'Son, your sins are forgiven you.' 6 And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, 7 'Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?' 8 But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them, 'Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, "Your sins are forgiven you," or to say, "Arise, take up your bed and walk?" 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins'--He said to the paralytic, 11 'I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.' 12 Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, 'We never saw anything like this!' 13 Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them. 14 As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, 'Follow Me.' So he arose and followed Him. 15 Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi's house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him. 16 And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, 'How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?' 17 When Jesus heard it, He said to them, 'Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.' 18 The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting. Then they came and said to Him, 'Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?' 19 And Jesus said to them, 'Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast. 20 But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days. 21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse. 22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.' 23 Now it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees said to Him, 'Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?' 25 But He said to them, 'Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him: 26 how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat, except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?' 27 And He said to them, 'The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. 28 Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.'"

In today's reading, our Lord is under constant attack. It seems everything that He does in today's reading from the Gospel of St. Mark is met with accusing questions. We can definitely see the hand of the devil in these questions. The devil seeks to lead men away from the truth, and therefore he plants doubt into men's hearts.

Our Lord is simply doing what the Messiah is supposed to do, heal the lame, preach, and give forgiveness to sinners. However, these are met with opposition. The first thing our Lord is accused of is blasphemy, which is what He is eventually accused of that led to His crucifixion. The Jews considered it blasphemy to forgive someone, for afterall, as the pericope points out, they believed only God could forgive sins. This proves one thing for us for certain, that our Lord Jesus is the Son of God; that He is the God/man incarnate who was promised from long ago, and has come into the world to redeem us. For those of us trained to see these things and believe, it is hard for us sometimes to grasp why the people in the Gospel doubt so much. But this is not an uncommon reaction when people come in contact with the mysteries of God.

The same can be said of the mysteries of today, of water, wine and bread, and word. Our Lord veils Himself in these things, yet we only see these physical elements, just like the Jews of our Lord's day only saw a man. How can water do such great things? How can bread and wine be the Body and Blood of our Lord? How can the proclamation of a guy dressed in a funny robe actually bring forgiveness? These things cannot be by themselves, but it is the Word of God attached to them that makes them these things.

The Jews only see Jesus. He is just a man, they assume. However, His Word, is the Word of God, and this man's sins are forgiven in Heaven, and they are forgiven on earth by our Lord. But our Lord, in order to show the crowds His true authority and reveal His divine nature, He heals the paralytic.

Now, there is a point that should be made here before moving on, and that is that when our Lord tells the paralytic to get up and go, we see His true divine power and nature. For let us view this from the paralytics standpoint. He has lost the ability to use his limbs, and therefore, he has lost his muscle memory. It is easy for us to move around; to get up and go, because we don't need to tell our muscles to react to the brain's impulses, as a matter of fact, we don't even consciously think about getting up to walk, or anything other activity that requires our arms and legs. Not so with the paralytic, he hasn't used them, and he has lost his muscle memory. We can be certain that he has tried many times to will his body to do what he wants it to do, but it just won't happen.

This is what makes this healing so full of awe, because when our Lord says, "Arise, take up your bed and walk," he immediately (and this is one of St. Mark's favorite words in his Gospel) gets up and walks. He doesn't have to think about it, he just does it. Not only that, but this man's limbs would have been useless because of atrophy from lack of use. Again, this does not come into play, for our Lord heals him completely in mind, body, and soul. To say it another way, our Lord has re-created him, restored him to his original self. And not just physically, but also spiritually, for he forgives him of his sins. Even his soul is re-created, that is, restored to its original nature, simply by our Lord speaking His Word.

This is what our Lord does for us when He speaks His Word into our ears, through water, wine and bread, and word. He re-creates us, He restores us to our original nature, removing from us the stain of sin and death, so that we may walk in His way. This re-creation, this restoration, is given to us in the holy means that our Lord has given us to use just for this purpose. And these holy means are found only in the house of God. Therefore, we have a need just like this paralytic, who had to be brought to our Lord Jesus in the house, and even when there was no room, he was let down through the roof. We have this need as well to be brought to where our Lord is giving out His holy Word, in the house of God. So that having been let down into the house, that is, upon humbling ourselves in His presence, we may rightly receive His holy gifts, and be healed of all of our sins.

May God be with you!

Deacon Dulas

The Children of Israel were Fruitful and Increased Abundantly: Exodus 1:1-22

Exodus 1:1-22: "1 Now these are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt; each man and his household came with Jacob: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; 3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; 4 Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. 5 All those who were descendants of Jacob were seventy persons (for Joseph was in Egypt already). 6 And Joseph died, all his brothers, and all that generation. 7 But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them. 8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 And he said to his people, 'Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we; 10 come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.' 11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses. 12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were in dread of the children of Israel. 13 So the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor. 14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage--in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor. 15 Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah; 16 and he said, 'When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.' 17 But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive. 18 So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, 'Why have you done this thing, and saved the male children alive?' 19 And the midwives said to Pharaoh, 'Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are lively and give birth before the midwives come to them.' 20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and grew very mighty. 21 And so it was, because the midwives feared God, that He provided households for them. 22 So Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, 'Every son who is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.'"

God causes the descendants of Israel to increase and multiply so that they filled the whole land. This fulfills the promise that was made in the book of Moses, commonly called Genesis. A couple things should be pointed out, one, the names of the sons of Jacob are listed according to their mothers, from first born to last born. The sons of the two concubines are listed after these names. This is why Benjamin, even though the last overall born, is listed seventh in the list, and not twelfth. The second thing is that Joseph is not listed in the names of the twelve sons. There are a couple of reasons for this, one, he was already in Egypt and this list lists the names of the sons of Jacob who came with him into Egypt from Canaan. Second, Joseph's sons, as we learn from Genesis 47, supplanted Joseph as sons of Jacob. Therefore he is not listed among Jacob's sons.

It is from these sons, that Jacob, who was renamed Israel, is given by God an abundant family. The English doesn't quite capture the nuances of the Hebrew. To "increase abundantly" in the Hebrew means "swarmed." The idea portrayed in the word, is that the descendants of Israel were everywhere. This fruitful increase is a blessing of our Lord God. It is part of the blessing that God made upon all creation when He first created it, when He said, "Be fruitful and multiply." It should be pointed out, since the English language doesn't carry the full wait of what our Lord God is saying through Moses, that this increase of offspring was not just the normal increase that one would see from twelve families having children and their children having children and so forth. This increase was a super-abundant increase, meaning more offspring than was usual. This is why the word "swarm" is used in the Hebrew, for it brings to mind a swarm of bees or locusts or cockroaches. They had so many offspring they filled the whole land.

Well, this becomes a problem for a Pharaoh of a generation long after when Joseph lived. And so he enslaves them, so that they become too weary to fight back, or overthrow their oppression. But again we see our Lord God's abundant grace, for even in the midst of this slavery that basically works the Israelite nation to the bone, the people of Israel still increase abundantly in producing offspring. One has to wonder when they had the time or energy to produce this amount of offspring. It reminds one of the pastor who was a tireless work-aholic, but had a dozen children, and when asked when he found the time, he responded, "A little here, a little there."

Pharaoh it seems is at a loss, for he tries to slow down the producing of offspring by hard labor, but that doesn't work, so he tries another way. He goes to the midwives, who were in charge of assisting with labor of the Hebrew women, and tells them to kill the male children, so that they will eventually not be able to produce as many offspring. However, this also backfires on Pharaoh, for the midwives worshipped the One True God, and followed His commands rather than Pharaoh's and spared the male children. When this plan of Pharaoh's doesn't succeed, he puts the announcement out to all Egypt, that every male child shall be cast into the river. This sets us up for the birth of Moses and the Exodus of the people of God.

We see in this narrative, from a spiritual standpoint, the devil attacking the Church of God on earth. Pharaoh represents the devil, who seeks to destroy and kill the Church, however, our Lord God, despite the devil's best efforts, still increases His holy Christian Church on earth, giving it an abundant increase, so that it swarms over all the world. We can see this especially in the Church's history when it grew exponentially in the first few centuries despite the onslaught of the devil through martyrdom and persecution. The holy Christian Church grew into a great holy nation, through its twelve fathers, the holy Apostles.

We are a part of this family, this Church, and even though the devil still continues to make our lives burdensome and toilsome, so that we face the rigor of sin, death, and the devil, our Lord God still increases His holy Church on earth by granting us new sons and daughters through the birth of Holy Baptism. And someday, our Lord God, will lead us out of this world, this land of Egypt into the promised land of Canaan, that is, Heaven. A land flowing with the pure milk of His holy Word, and the honey of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

May the Lord God ever keep you in His grace.

God be with you!

Deacon Dulas

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

And He Blessed Joseph: Genesis 48:1-22

Genesis 48:1-22: "1 Now it came to pass after these things that Joseph was told, 'Indeed your father is sick;' and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 2 And Jacob was told, 'Look, your son Joseph is coming to you;' and Israel strengthened himself and sat up on the bed. 3 Then Jacob said to Joseph: 'God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, 4 and said to me, "Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of you a multitude of people, and give this land to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession." 5 And now your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine. 6 Your offspring whom you beget after them shall be yours; they will be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. 7 But as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died beside me in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).' 8 Then Israel saw Joseph's sons, and said, 'Who are these?' 9 And Joseph said to his father, 'They are my sons, whom God has given me in this place.' And he said, 'Please bring them to me, and I will bless them.' 10 Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. Then Joseph brought them near him, and he kissed them and embraced them. 11 And Israel said to Joseph, 'I had not thought to see your face; but in fact, God has also shown me your offspring!' 12 So Joseph brought them from beside his knees, and he bowed down with his face to the earth. 13 And Joseph took them both, Ephraim with his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh with his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near him. 14 Then Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh's head, guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the firstborn. 15 And he blessed Joseph, and said: 'God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has fed me all my life long to this day, 16 the Angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; Let my name be named upon them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; And let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.' 17 Now when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; so he took hold of his father's hand to remove it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. 18 And Joseph said to his father, 'Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.' 19 But his father refused and said, 'I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.' 20 So he blessed them that day, saying, 'By you Israel will bless, saying, "May God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh!" And thus he set Ephraim before Manasseh. 21 Then Israel said to Joseph, 'Behold, I am dying, but God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers. 22 Moreover I have given to you one portion above your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow.'"

Today, Jacob blesses Joseph his son. He does this by blessing Joseph's two sons, Ephraim, the younger, and Manasseh, the older. However, Jacob, who is also called Israel, blesses Joseph's sons in the same way that he was blessed, for Jacob also was the younger son, whom his mother helped to deceive his father, so that he might be blessed before Esau. This displeases Joseph, for he wanted his first born son to receive the greater blessing.

But God's ways are not our ways. The lesser becomes the greater. The greater becomes the lesser. Ephraim receives the greater blessing, his older brother, the lesser. But why? We come to this section, and think, "Why is Moses relating this narrative to us?" It's not simply to explain why Ephraim and Manasseh are counted among the twelve tribes of Israel, and Joseph is not. Although, this certainly explains why that is. And as a side note, we can see how much Jacob loved Joseph, for he gets a double portion of the inheritance of Jacob through his sons. But there is another reason for this narrative, and it has to do with prophecy.

Ephraim was a mountain country just north of Judah. When the two kingdoms split into Israel and Judah, Jereboam made his own altar in Shechem which is in Ephraim. Therefore, Ephraim became synonymous with the northern kingdom. It was really a by-word, much in the same way that Jews viewed Samaritans. But, Jacob, is here predicting that Ephraim will become a great nation, that is, the Northern kingdom. Ephraim means, "doubly fruitful." And it would seem that he became doubly fruitful in the possesion of the land of Israel, for not only did he have is own land and tribe, but his name was also used to refer to the Northern kingdom.

God be with you!

Deacon Dulas

How Often I Wanted to Gather Your Children Together: St. Matthew 23:1-39

St. Matthew 23:1-39: "1 Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, 2 saying: 'The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. 3 Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. 4 For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. 5 But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. 6 They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, 7 greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, "Rabbi, Rabbi." 8 But you, do not be called "Rabbi;" for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. 9 Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. 10 And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. 11 But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. 13 But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. 14 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation. 15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. 16 Woe to you, blind guides, who say, "Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it."17 Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? 18 And, "Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it." 19 Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? 20 Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it. 21 He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it. 22 And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it. 23 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. 24 Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! 25 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. 27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. 28 Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. 29 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, 30 and say, "If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets." 31 Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt. 33 Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? 34 Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, 35 that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. 37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! 38 See! Your house is left to you desolate; 39 for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!"'

Today is the festival of St. Titus, the Bishop. And although not specifically appointed for this festival, we get these instructions on how not to be a minister of God, through the wrong example of the Pharisees and scribes. It seems that our Lord has come to Jerusalem to pick a fight with the religious leaders; a fight He hopes to lose by being crucified for us.

The Pharisees and scribes embody the bad ministers of the world. What makes a bad minister? Two things, his preaching and his life. The bad minister preaches to keep things, that he himself does not keep. He preaches himself, and his good works. He prays long prayers, so that you may be impressed with him. He is only concerned about himself. In so doing, he bars the gates of Heaven, for no one can get in through his preaching because his preaching centers on himself and earthly things, and not on Heavenly things. We see these bad ministers all over the place, they are the ones to whom large crowds flock to, because people are easily deceived by subtle words, and earthly platitudes.

The bad ministers life is the same, it is concerned with only himself. All of his grand gestures, his giving, his lifestyle, his good works, are done so that people will think he is a great guy. He deceives and misleads others in the same path, so that they also are concerned about their appearance before other men. Giving grand shows of giving and good works, and other so-called religious activity so that every one will remark about how great a person and Christian they are. These men are sycophants, people pleasers, and even though they may throw out the occasional prop to our Lord Jesus, even this is only done for their own bellies.

Our Lord Jesus, calls these men, "hypocrites." We've come to know this word as meaning "someone who is not what he seems." In holy Scripture this typically refers to someone who pretends to be a member of the Church, but is really not. An "hypocrite" in every day Greek usage at the time of our Lord was an actor or stage performer. Someone pretending to be something other than he is. Therefore all actors are "hypocrites." They are playing a role, that is not who they really are; they are pretending to be someone else. The bad minister, the Pharisees and scribes, are also "hypocrites." They are pretending to be religious and men of God, but their hearts are from our Lord. They are not whom they seem to be.

So then, how does one identify the bad minister? This is determined by his preaching and life. What is he preaching, or more precisely who is he preaching, and how is he living? A good minister, or to say it more properly, a true minister of God, is selfless, he doesn't do things to curry favor with men, but preaches our Lord Jesus at all cost, he boldly proclaims the truth, even when doing so is not in his best interest. He gives of himself, not expecting something in return, especially praise, he does it simply because that is who he is. He is not putting on airs, he is not putting on a show, he is simply being who he is, that is, a man of God, called to proclaim the Lord Jesus, and the salvation that is found in Him alone. He doesn't preach salvation through works, but salvation in the Lord Jesus alone.

The true minister of God gathers the children of God together, and shelters them under his wing, protecting them from the wolf who wishes to devour and kill them. Our Lord in using this example is showing the self-sacrifice of the true minister of God. He will take on all punishment, in order to defend and protect the flock. Our Lord Jesus is the True Minister of God, for He lays down His life, so that the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh may be defeated, and we may live protected under His mighty wing. He bears the cross of sin and shame, so that we do not have to. He becomes the least so that we may be made the greatest. He does this all out of love for us, because that is who He is. He does not put on airs, He is not pretending to be somebody He is not. He is not just some actor dressed up to appear as the Christ. He is the True and Only Lord Christ, and salvation, life and forgiveness is found only in Him.

Our Lord desires to gather us, His children, under His wing as a mother hen. He has sent us His ministers, descendants of the disciples, like St. Titus, who are true ministers, who preach Christ crucified, because that is who they are, and they do not do it for earthly praise, but because they have the same heart that dwelt in our Lord, a heart that wishes to gather His children into the holy house of the Church, so that they may be fed and nourished and strengthened and protected against the assaults of the devil and the world.

May our Lord gather you under His mighty wing of the holy Christian Church, and feed and nourish you with His holy gifts of Word and Sacrament.

God be with you!

Deacon Dulas

The Famine Was Severe Upon Them: Genesis 47:1-31

Genesis 47:1-31: "1 Then Joseph went and told Pharaoh, and said, 'My father and my brothers, their flocks and their herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan; and indeed they are in the land of Goshen.' 2 And he took five men from among his brothers and presented them to Pharaoh. 3 Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, 'What is your occupation?' And they said to Pharaoh, 'Your servants are shepherds, both we and also our fathers.' 4 And they said to Pharaoh, 'We have come to dwell in the land, because your servants have no pasture for their flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.' 5 Then Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, 'Your father and your brothers have come to you. 6 The land of Egypt is before you. Have your father and brothers dwell in the best of the land; let them dwell in the land of Goshen. And if you know any competent men among them, then make them chief herdsmen over my livestock.' 7 Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and set him before Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 8 Pharaoh said to Jacob, 'How old are you?' 9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, 'The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.' 10 So Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh. 11 And Joseph situated his father and his brothers, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. 12 Then Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father's household with bread, according to the number in their families. 13 Now there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine. 14 And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought; and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house. 15 So when the money failed in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, 'Give us bread, for why should we die in your presence? For the money has failed.' 16 Then Joseph said, 'Give your livestock, and I will give you bread for your livestock, if the money is gone.' 17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the cattle of the herds, and for the donkeys. Thus he fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock that year. 18 When that year had ended, they came to him the next year and said to him, 'We will not hide from my lord that our money is gone; my lord also has our herds of livestock. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands. 19 Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants of Pharaoh; give us seed, that we may live and not die, that the land may not be desolate.' 20 Then Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for every man of the Egyptians sold his field, because the famine was severe upon them. So the land became Pharaoh's. 21 And as for the people, he moved them into the cities, from one end of the borders of Egypt to the other end. 22 Only the land of the priests he did not buy; for the priests had rations allotted to them by Pharaoh, and they ate their rations which Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their lands. 23 Then Joseph said to the people, 'Indeed I have bought you and your land this day for Pharaoh. Look, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. 24 And it shall come to pass in the harvest that you shall give one-fifth to Pharaoh. Four-fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and for your food, for those of your households and as food for your little ones.' 25 So they said, 'You have saved our lives; let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants.' 26 And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should have one-fifth, except for the land of the priests only, which did not become Pharaoh's. 27 So Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions there and grew and multiplied exceedingly. 28 And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years. So the length of Jacob's life was one hundred and forty-seven years. 29 When the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, 'Now if I have found favor in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me. Please do not bury me in Egypt, 30 but let me lie with my fathers; you shall carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.' And he said, 'I will do as you have said.' 31 Then he said, 'Swear to me.' And he swore to him. So Israel bowed himself on the head of the bed."

This evening's reading relays the narrative of Jacob and his sons settling in the land of Egypt, and the increase of the famine that caused them to be there. Joseph makes Pharaoh a very wealthy man. It was because of the dream of Pharaoh that Joseph knew about the coming famine, and was able to prepare for it. However, the famine lasted such a long time that not only did the bread run out in Canaan, but it also ran out in Egypt. When in did, the people of Egypt did not have anything to eat, therefore they were forced to give all their money to buy food, so that the Pharoah had everyone's money. Having given all their money to Pharoah for bread, they had nothing with which to buy food to eat, so Joseph agrees to exchange bread for their livestock, so Pharaoh had everyone's livestock. Then, having given up all the livestock they could spare, they didn't have any thing to buy bread, so Joseph agrees to buy their land in exchange for bread, so that Pharoah, now owned all the land. So Joseph made Pharaoh a very rich man, because he had all the money, all the livestock and all the land of Egypt.

Joseph was then able to even supply workers to work the fields of Pharaoh, that is, the people who sold their land. They would be allowed to work the land, and would be allowed to keep 4/5 of was grown from the seed that Joseph gave them. They only had to give Pharaoh 1/5 of what was grown on his land by their hands.

This is more than just an informative narrative about Joseph's dealings with the Egyptians during the famine. This whole pericope, including Jacob and his whole family settling in the land of Goshen, and the indebted servitude of the people of Egypt, sets up the Exodus. For eventually it would be the Jews, who would grow into a large nation, that would end up in slavery and working in Pharaoh's fields, and building his cities. The sad thing about all of this, is that Joseph, a Jew, sets up Pharaoh to be a very wealthy man, and by all of his dealings with the people, does great things for Pharaoh. But, a Pharaoh arises who does not remember all that Joseph did for Egypt, and Joseph's kindness is repaid with harsh labor and enslavement.

Today, through this reading, we stand poised at the cusp of our Lord God's deliverance. He reveals to us how He sets things up for us, so that He may deliver us, just like He delivers the Israelites from slavery and bondage. He delivers us from the slavery and bondage of sin and death. Our Lord is not slow in fulfilling His promises, as some would count slowness, but instead is patient, waiting for all things to be fulfilled in their proper time, so that we might have a more abundant harvest.

God be with you!

Deacon Dulas

Now When He Came Into the Temple: St. Matthew 21:10-46

St. Matthew 21:10-46: "10 And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, 'Who is this?' 11 So the multitudes said, 'This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.' 12 Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 13 And He said to them, 'It is written, "My house shall be called a house of prayer," but you have made it a "den of thieves."' 14 Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, 'Hosanna to the Son of David!' they were indignant 16 and said to Him, 'Do You hear what these are saying?' And Jesus said to them, 'Yes. Have you never read, "Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise?"' 17 Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there. 18 Now in the morning, as He returned to the city, He was hungry. 19 And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, 'Let no fruit grow on you ever again.' Immediately the fig tree withered away. 20 And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, 'How did the fig tree wither away so soon?' 21 So Jesus answered and said to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, "Be removed and be cast into the sea," it will be done. 22 And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.' 23 Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, 'By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?' 24 But Jesus answered and said to them, 'I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things: 25 "The baptism of John--where was it from? From heaven or from men?"' And they reasoned among themselves, saying, 'If we say, "From heaven," He will say to us, "Why then did you not believe him?" 26 But if we say, "From men," we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet.' 27 So they answered Jesus and said, 'We do not know.' And He said to them, 'Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. 28 But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, "Son, go, work today in my vineyard." 29 He answered and said, "I will not," but afterward he regretted it and went. 30 Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, "I go, sir," but he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?' They said to Him, 'The first.' Jesus said to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him. 33 Hear another parable: There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country. 34 Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit. 35 And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them. 37 Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, "They will respect my son." 38 But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, "This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance." 39 So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?' 41 They said to Him, 'He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons.' 42 Jesus said to them, 'Have you never read in the Scriptures: "The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD's doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes?" 43 Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. 44 And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.' 45 Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived that He was speaking of them. 46 But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitudes, because they took Him for a prophet."

Today we have the first "skip" in this lectionary. Since Easter is a "movable" date, meaning it doesn't end up on the same date every year, the Church year, and the lectionaries attached to it, must move with it. Therefore, the Church has its first leap forward in readings,, skipping over the various weeks of Epiphany that need to be skipped in order to reach Easter on the date it is supposed to be celebrated this year, which is April 4th. The Church has two "skips," the other one being at the end of the Trinty season, skipping ahead after the Feast of St. Michael and all Angels, in order that she might read every year the readings for the 20th to the 27th Sundays after Trinity each year, and reach the First Sunday in Advent on the correct date.

Therefore, with this lectionary, we must skip over the intervening chapters in St. Matthew that would have been read if we had a full slate of Epiphany Sundays. The same is true for the evening readings, which skip over the intervening chapters in Genesis. If you hadn't noticed, during the Epiphany season the Church reads through Genesis and the Gospel of St. Matthew (starting after the Second Sunday) during the season of Epiphany. In some ways, this "skip" is unfortunate, because we don't get to read those chapters and verses that we skip over. But the good news is that it gets us closer to the celebration of our Lord's Resurrection.

Today also, is the festival of the Conversion of St. Paul. Today the Church remembers the incident recorded in the book of the Acts of the Apostles where our Lord showed Himself alive and resurrected from the dead to the enemy of the Church, Saul. Upon seeing our Lord, Saul was blinded, and had to be led by his men to Damascus, where he was eventually healed of his blindness (both spiritual and physical) by Ananias the disciple.

And in the midst of all of these happenings we have the reading from the Twenty-first chapter of St. Matthew. This reading takes place immediately after the Triumphant entrance of our Lord into Jerusalem, which Gospel we hear every Ad te levavi (the First Sunday in Advent) and Palmarum (Palm Sunday).

The first thing our Lord does upon entering Jerusalem, is to clean out the Temple. He makes it ready for His teaching. And upon cleansing the Temple, He can then cleanse and heal the people. So that, blind and the lame are brought to Him. The spiritual implications of this is not lost on us. Our Lord cleanses the Temple so that the physically blind and lame may be healed, but He also cleanses it so that the spiritually blind and lame may be healed. It is here in His Temple that He desires to heal the chief priests and scribes. But, they remain indignant toward Him.

In this dialogue between chief priests and the elders of the Law, we can picture the Boy Jesus in the Temple who was both asking and answering questions of the chief priests and elders of that time when He was twelve years old. Our Lord and chief priests are asking each other questions, but the answers seem to be all supplied by our Lord. I suppose one could read this section of Scripture and think that our Lord is egging the chief priests and scribes on, because He calls them to account for their unbelief.

But there is a purpose in this, and it is to lead them into belief in Him. Our Lord in this discourse, shows His love and concern for the chief priests and the scribes, arguing with them, reasoning with them, asking and answering questions with them, so that they might see and believe, that is, so that they might no longer be blind and lame spiritually. The sad thing is that they get it. "They perceived that He was speaking of them." However, their hearts are hardened to the point that they desire to "lay hands on Him", that is they desired to kill Him.

The fact that our Lord was convicted and crucified falsely of blasphemy, that is, claiming Himself to be God (of which we know that He is), by the chief priests and scribes, that is, the religious leaders of the day, is not lost on someone who is a religious leader of his day. The religious leaders of the past, in Old Testament times, were responsible for the mistreatment and death of many of the prophets of old. They did the same thing to the Son, just as the parable tells us. All because the religious leaders of those times catered to the whims of the people. We see it here in this pericope as well, they "feared the crowds." These religious leaders cared more about their social standing and the way they are perceived than they cared about the truth, and about proclaiming the Messiah in all of His truth and purity.

The same thing happens today as well. There are many ministers and religious leaders who are more concerned with numbers and and money and social status and the perception of the people, than they are of the truth, and the true care of an individual's spiritual blindness and lameness. Saul was such a fellow like these chief priests and scribes, not hearing the Word, but only acting according to what his church body dictated. However, after his question and answer session with our Lord, Saul was converted and became known as St. Paul, and he became the voice of our Lord to all the Gentiles, that is, to all of us who are not born of Jewish descent. The conversion of St. Paul is for our benefit, for it leads to our hearing of the Gospel, and our salvation.

The unbelief of the chief priests and scribes is also for our benefit, for it prompts them to crucify our Lord, convicting Him of blasphemy. And His death wins for us forgiveness of sins, eternal life and salvation. It is this innocent death and suffering alone that the religious leaders of today are to proclaim, so that we might hear and be saved by Him alone, and not by our works or other false means. It is also this message that the religious leaders of today are called to proclaim boldly and confidently not fearing the crowds, or being concerned with currying favor, but instead with boldly confessing our Lord.

May we boldly listen to the men of God who boldly proclaim our Lord on this day where we celebrate the conversion of St. Paul. May our hearts continue to be converted as was his, so that we might ever rejoice in Heaven with our Lord and St. Paul.

God be with you!

Deacon Dulas

The Lord GOD Will Cause Righteousness and Praise to Spring Forth Before All the Nations: Isaiah 61:10-11

Isaiah 61:10-11: "10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 11 For as the earth brings forth its bud, as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations."

Isaiah's prophecy is the words of our Lord Jesus about Himself. These words, recorded for us today as the Old Testament lesson for the Transfiguration of Our Lord, reveal who our Lord Jesus is. Our Lord Jesus is a bridegroom decked with ornaments. Those ornaments are his righteouness and salvation. One can clearly see the transfiguration in these words. For on the Mount of Transfiguration, our Lord shone like the sun, and His clothes became white like no fuller on earth could launder. His clothes were this type of white, because our Lord Jesus revealed His true righteousness.

In His earthly ministry our Lord hid His divine nature. One could say that he wore the garment of sin and shame, therefore it was dirty and dingy. However, our Lord shows His true nature by revealing His true righteousness to Sts. Peter, John and James the Elder. Isaiah foretells this event by likening the robe of righteousness of our Savior, and the garments of salvation which He wears, as the clothes of a bridegroom and bride.

We've all been to weddings, or are at least familiar with them, so we can relate to this image. Much is made about the dress of the bride. So much so that one would think it was the most important thing (next to the cake). Of course sinful man misplaces the important thing in a wedding, and by extension, in marriage as well, which is the unity that is made by our Lord God, and the agreement that those who are married in the Church, are asking our Heavenly Father's blessing upon their marriage, so that they might live united as one, even as He is One, and the Church is one.

But misplaced focus aside, we know how important it is to dress a certain way at a wedding, and there is nothing wrong with this, even Isaiah the prophet in Old Testament times, recognizes the importance of wedding garments. We can clearly see from the illustration, that wedding clothes are not our everyday clothes. They are special garments that reveal something about the event that will take place. And they reveal something about the person. As the saying goes, "clothes make the man."

Here is the key. Our Lord Jesus wears these special clothes, which we consider to be worn only on special occasions, all the time. His wedding garments are righteousness and salvation, and He is always wearing them. And in the transfiguration, we get a glimpse of His righteousness and our salvation. And the great news is that these special wedding clothes of our Lord, the garment of salvation and the robe of righteousness, have been given to us to wear all the time, by virtue of our Holy Baptism.

In Holy Baptism, we have put on Christ, that is, we have put on His robe of righteousness and His garment of salvation, so that our dirty and dingy clothes racked with sin and shame are covered over, or even better, have been removed, so that all our Heavenly Father only sees the righteousness of His Son Jesus. Our sins are no longer seen on account of our Holy Baptism. And every day that we remember our Holy Baptism, we once again put on that robe of righteousness that our Lord Jesus gave to us in Holy Baptism, and won for us on the cross of His death.

And in this, our Heavenly Father, cause to spring forth from the earth, the new bud of life and salvation. This bud is the Church, that is, all those who have been baptized with the water of life, and who cling to their Holy Baptism in faith. This holy water has gone over the whole earth, and flooded it with salvation, and the whole earth has been reborn in the righteousness and salvation of our Lord Jesus. And those who put on this righteousness by virtue of their baptisms, rejoice greatly in the Lord, and their soul is joyful in the Lord God. For it is He who has clothed them in righteousness. And for that we are eternally thankful.

God be with you!

Deacon Dulas

This is My Beloved Son, In Whom I am Well-Pleased: 2 Peter 1:16-21

2 Peter 1:16-21: "16 For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 17 For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: 'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' 18 And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. 19 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; 20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit."

This mornings reading is from the Epistle for the Transfiguration of our Lord, the last Sunday after Epiphany. Next week begins, for those using the ancient and proper lectionary, what is known as Pre-Lent. It is a time of preparation for Lent. The Lenten season is comprised of three cycles: Pre-Lent, Lent, and Passiontide (which starts on Judica, the fifth Sunday in Lent). Pre-Lent is made up of three Sunday that prepare us for our penitential and catechetical journey during Lent. These three Sunday involve call, instruction, and enlightenment. People are called into the vineyard, that is the Church, by our Lord's Word, which is portrayed by the parable of the workers in the vineyard. Then they receive catechesis, that is, instruction in the doctrines and practices of the Church, that is portrayed by the parable of the sower and the seed. Having been called, that is invited into the Church, and having been catechized, that is, instructed, we receive enlightenment, that is, our eyes of faith, blinded by the darkness of sin and despair, are opened to see the glories of our Lord God. This is portrayed in the healing of the blind man, Bartemaeus.

So we have three Sundays which lead us into and prepare us for the reflection upon our sin and our struggle with sin throughout Lent. When we reach Passiontide, then we set our eyes on the cross, that is the Passion (which is why this season is called "Passion"tide.) But these three cycles of Lent cannot take place unless we have what takes place today within the Church Year, that is, the Transfiguration of our Lord.

St. Peter was there, and He relates in his Epistle that he was an eyewitness that our Lord Jesus was indeed the God/man; He was God incarnate in man's flesh. From St. Peter's words that this was not "cunningly devised fables" we can assume that there were those, perhaps even within the Church, who thought this transfiguration narrative was a little too far-fetched. There are those today who think the same thing, even those who claim to be a part of the Church.

St. Peter tells us that he saw it with his own eyes. If we cannot believe an eyewitness, who can we believe? But St. Peter goes on to say that the purpose of our Lord Jesus revealing Himself in such a fashion, was not just to put on a show, nor to scare the disciples to death, although, they certainly were afraid as the Gospel from St. Matthew tells us. No, St. Peter tells us that the reason for Christ's transfiguration was to confirm the prophetic Word.

The prophets of the Old Testament continuously preached and proclaimed that the Messiah would come. That our Lord God would come to save His people with His own hand. Granted this prophecy was veiled in unclear language, but in His transfiguration, our Lord shines the eternal light on all of holy Scriptures so that we can see clearly when reading the Old Testament prophecies that they were referring to our Lord and Saviour Jesus.

Our Lord spreads this light, this eternal light of His Word, into our hearts, full of darkness and sin, and in so doing, He enlightens our hearts, and removes the darkness of sin, so that we may become children of light. Furthermore, having this light shined on our dark hearts full of sin, we can see clearly that these prophecies of our Lord, and for that matter, all of holy Scripture, were not written by men, but by God Himself.

St. Peter, too, writes to us by the hand of the Holy Spirit. It is His Word, he simply uses St. Peter, and all the prophets, evangelists and apostles who wrote holy Scripture, to write it down in their own language. And this leads us to another point, for we often hear the accusation, that such and such a part of holy Scripture is "our interpretation." The Blessed St. Peter dispels even this erroneous thinking, for he tells us that "no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation." What does that mean? It means that not only does the Holy Spirit give the very words and thoughts that the holy men of God wrote in His holy Word, but He also is the One Who provides the interpretation.

This is why our Lord Jesus spent three years with His disciples teaching them all that holy Scripture prophesied about Him. It is no wonder then that the Early Church is some places adopted a three year minimum of instruction in the Word of God (other places had two years). It wasn't until they had spent three years learning God's Word that they could then submit their names to become a member of the "fideles", that is, the "faithful ones." This particular catechesis took place during the forty days of Lent, which is why Lent has always been marked by catechesis and instruction. During these forty days, having already learned fully holy Scripture, got to hear the tenets of the faith. It was instruction in the Creed, that is, the Nicene Creed. And they didn't even get to hear the Creed until they had a week or so of catechesis.

These holy things were so guarded by the early Christians, that the Lord's Prayer was not even taught to them until there was only a week or two left before their Holy Baptism on the night before Easter. This was done for several reasons, one, they took seriously the saying of our Lord that one should not throw pearls before swine, in other words, the mysteries of the Church should not be given to just anybody, but should be revered as holy things. Two, making someone a Christian, at that time, meant not only making them an enemy of the devil, but also an enemy of the state. If someone who was not ready, someone who was not willing to endure the requirements of the Church, was allowed to be told all about the holy mysteries, and then had been captured by the state and tortured, it was believed that this weak individual would give them all up, and the individual church, and the Church at large would suffer.

But, the third reason, was the most important, that was that they did not want any "private interpretations." This was especially important in a day and age when the written word was not a common thing, and that the mysteries of God, and the teachings of the Church, were handed down, for the most part orally. And, we can see from history that this was successful, for when the time of open persecution by the government was ended, and these teachings began to be written down, and the true confession of the Church was recorded in the words of the Nicene Creed, we see that what they believed was the same as what the Apostles taught them. This is almost two hundred years later. The truth was preserved by the work of the Holy Spirit working through the men of God who were in charge of catechesis and instruction in God's word.

This is how we today, know whether our church teaches the Word of God in its truth and purity, because it teaches what the Apostles taught, it teaches what St. Peter taught, because they were taught by our Lord. It also teaches what the Early Fathers taught. And one can easily start to see errors in church bodies where they have left these teachings, and have devised cunning false teachings that only sound right to the untrained ears.

Only those churches teach the truth which place our salvation solely on the shoulders of our Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is found in Him alone, even the Heavenly Father attests to this, not only in this Epistle of St. Peter, but also in the holy Gospels, both here at the transfiguration, and at His Holy Baptism. Salvation is not found in man or anything that he does, but solely in our Lord.

So today, the Blessed St. Peter sets us on the straight path, and preaches our Lord Jesus as the One and Only Saviour of mankind. He alone is the One Who transfigured Himself on the Mount, and He alone it is Who reveals Himself as God incarnate in our flesh. As the Heavenly Father testifies, "This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well-pleased. Hear Him!"

May God be with you!

Deacon Dulas

I Will Go: Genesis 24:29-67

Genesis 24:29-67: "29 Now Rebekah had a brother whose name was Laban, and Laban ran out to the man by the well. 30 So it came to pass, when he saw the nose ring, and the bracelets on his sister's wrists, and when he heard the words of his sister Rebekah, saying, 'Thus the man spoke to me,' that he went to the man. And there he stood by the camels at the well. 31 And he said, 'Come in, O blessed of the LORD! Why do you stand outside? For I have prepared the house, and a place for the camels.' 32 Then the man came to the house. And he unloaded the camels, and provided straw and feed for the camels, and water to wash his feet and the feet of the men who were with him. 33 Food was set before him to eat, but he said, 'I will not eat until I have told about my errand.' And he said, 'Speak on.' 34 So he said, 'I am Abraham's servant. 35 The LORD has blessed my master greatly, and he has become great; and He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys. 36 And Sarah my master's wife bore a son to my master when she was old; and to him he has given all that he has. 37 Now my master made me swear, saying, "You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell; 38 but you shall go to my father's house and to my family, and take a wife for my son." 39 And I said to my master, "Perhaps the woman will not follow me." 40 But he said to me, "The LORD, before whom I walk, will send His angel with you and prosper your way; and you shall take a wife for my son from my family and from my father's house. 41 You will be clear from this oath when you arrive among my family; for if they will not give her to you, then you will be released from my oath." 42 And this day I came to the well and said, "O LORD God of my master Abraham, if You will now prosper the way in which I go, 43 behold, I stand by the well of water; and it shall come to pass that when the virgin comes out to draw water, and I say to her, 'Please give me a little water from your pitcher to drink,' 44 and she says to me, 'Drink, and I will draw for your camels also,'--let her be the woman whom the LORD has appointed for my master's son." 45 But before I had finished speaking in my heart, there was Rebekah, coming out with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down to the well and drew water. And I said to her, "Please let me drink." 46 And she made haste and let her pitcher down from her shoulder, and said, "Drink, and I will give your camels a drink also." So I drank, and she gave the camels a drink also. 47 Then I asked her, and said, "Whose daughter are you?" And she said, "The daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bore to him." So I put the nose ring on her nose and the bracelets on her wrists. 48 And I bowed my head and worshiped the LORD, and blessed the LORD God of my master Abraham, who had led me in the way of truth to take the daughter of my master's brother for his son. 49 Now if you will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me. And if not, tell me, that I may turn to the right hand or to the left.' 50 Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, 'The thing comes from the LORD; we cannot speak to you either bad or good. 51 Here is Rebekah before you; take her and go, and let her be your master's son's wife, as the LORD has spoken.' 52 And it came to pass, when Abraham's servant heard their words, that he worshiped the LORD, bowing himself to the earth. 53 Then the servant brought out jewelry of silver, jewelry of gold, and clothing, and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother. 54 And he and the men who were with him ate and drank and stayed all night. Then they arose in the morning, and he said, 'Send me away to my master.' 55 But her brother and her mother said, 'Let the young woman stay with us a few days, at least ten; after that she may go.' 56 And he said to them, 'Do not hinder me, since the LORD has prospered my way; send me away so that I may go to my master.' 57 So they said, 'We will call the young woman and ask her personally.' 58 Then they called Rebekah and said to her, 'Will you go with this man?' And she said, 'I will go.' 59 So they sent away Rebekah their sister and her nurse, and Abraham's servant and his men. 60 And they blessed Rebekah and said to her: 'Our sister, may you become The mother of thousands of ten thousands; And may your descendants possess the gates of those who hate them.' 61 Then Rebekah and her maids arose, and they rode on the camels and followed the man. So the servant took Rebekah and departed. 62 Now Isaac came from the way of Beer Lahai Roi, for he dwelt in the South. 63 And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening; and he lifted his eyes and looked, and there, the camels were coming. 64 Then Rebekah lifted her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from her camel; 65 for she had said to the servant, 'Who is this man walking in the field to meet us?' The servant said, 'It is my master.' So she took a veil and covered herself. 66 And the servant told Isaac all the things that he had done. 67 Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent; and he took Rebekah and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother's death."

Laban it seems has trouble letting go. He has agreed to allow Rebekah to go with Abraham's servant back to the land of Canaan, in order that she may be married to Isaac. But then it seems he reneges. He tells Abraham's servant that the servant can go home, and then later, they'll send Rebekah. At least ten days Laban wanted to keep his sister around. We are reminded from this of what Laban does to Rebekah's son, Jacob. Jacob desired to marry Laban's daughter Rachel, but in order for that to happen, he had to work for Laban for seven years. When the time actually came for him to be married to Rachel, Laban snuck Rachel's sister, Leah, into the tent. Then, in order for Jacob to marry Rachel, he had to work for Laban for another seven years. After these fourteen years, Laban still was reluctant to let his daughters go.

It seems that Laban is reluctant to let his loved ones go, for here in Genesis 24, he wants to keep his sister around. One would think that if she stayed, she may have never gone. But, Laban leaves it up to his sister, probably thinking she would not want to go to a far away strange country to live with people whom she did not know. However, when Laban asks her, she says, "I will go." What we see in this statement, is faith. This is the same faith that Abraham had when he left his home and family to go away into a far away country simply because the Lord God told him.

Rebekah shows this same faith, recognizing from the description of Abraham's servant in what led him to Laban and his sister, was the will of God. It would seem that Rebekah is willing to serve God rather than her brother's wishes. And so, she sets off with Abraham's servant, willingly and gladly, to be wed to a man she never met.

Such faith is hard to find in this life. People who will take a leap of faith of this nature, going to a place where there is no assurance that the life that awaits them, will be a good and enjoyable one. One could even argue that Rebekah is going to this new life, even if it means her life will not be a pleasant one. In that, we can see a picture of our Lord Jesus, who left His Heavenly throne, and His Divine power and came to this strange unwelcoming land full of sin and death and sorrow, simply because His Father and our Father, wanted Him too. And simply because He desired to save and redeem us.

Our Lord Jesus, eventually returned to His Heavenly Father at His ascension, in the same way that Rebekah returned to her brother Laban, through her son Jacob. And it should be pointed out that even though Rebekah took this leap of faith, faithfully following the will of the Lord God, she did not end up with an unpleasant life. Moses records for us that Isaac loved Rebekah. And we can assume that because Rebekah brought Isaac comfort from his mother's death, that she loved him.

Rebekah, after leaving one family, is given a new family. And this family would fulfill the blessing that Laban bestows upon her at her leaving, that she would be the mother of many children, and that they would dwell in the land of their enemies. Our Lord Jesus, also leaves His Heavenly home, and is given a new home, and then after fulfilling all that was necessary for Him to win our salvation, is given a new family, with many co-heirs.

We are that new family of our Lord Jesus, he is our brother, the Firstborn out of the dead, and that family's mother is the holy Christian Church, who gives birth to many children, just like Rebekah, through water and the Word. And the Church dwells in the land of its enemies of the devil, the world, and sinful flesh, but because of what our Brother, our Lord Jesus, did for us, we do not fear these enemies, for our Lord has authority over them, and does not let them prevail against the gates of the Church, so that we may rest in peace in the gifts of His holy Word and Blessed Sacraments.

We who have joined the Church are like our mother Rebekah, for in faith we say, "I will go." Trusting in our Lord God, and living according to His commands, and rejoicing in what He has done for us, and continues to do for us. We enjoy the fruits of this new land, this land known as holy Christendom, and we live out our lives in love, being loved by our Heavenly Father, Who bestows His spiritual blessings upon us richly and abundantly. Rejoice in what our Lord Jesus has done for you, and that He has called you into His holy kingdom, and feeds and sustains you in the faith.

May God be with you!

Deacon Dulas