I Will Make Your Descendants As the Dust of the Earth: Genesis 13:1-18

Genesis 13:1-18: "1 Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the South. 2 Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. 3 And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, 4 to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the LORD. 5 Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents. 6 Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. 7 And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land. 8 So Abram said to Lot, 'Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren. 9 Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.' 10 And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar. 11 Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other. 12 Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom. 13 But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the LORD. 14 And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: 'Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are--northward, southward, eastward, and westward; 15 for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. 16 And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. 17 Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.' 18 Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the LORD."

"I will make your descendants as the dust of earth." This is glad tidings for us, for we are the descendants of Abram by virtue of our baptisms into our Lord Christ. This promise is given to Abram when he has no offspring. And, this is the first time that he receives this promise, but it isn't the last. Abram will be the father of a huge nation. However, he will never see it come to fruition. Even his son Isaac, was not married to Rebekah until he was forty years old, and he only had two sons. By the time Jacob marries Leah and Rachel and has all of his sons and daughters, Abram is long dead.

But, Abram, takes these words of God on faith, just like he did when he left his home in Haran. And the promises do not stop there. Not only will Abram be the father of a large nation, but he will also be given the land of which he resides in now as far as he can see in all four directions.

These promises were first fulfilled through the nation of Israel. Israel, who was called Jacob, begat twelve sons, who became the twelve tribes of Israel. And they eventually resettled in the land that Abram is currently in. This is all well and good, Abram will have a huge nation, and possess a great amount of land. But that is not the only reason that our Father promises Abram these things. This is done, so that through Abram, the Messiah would be born. This Savior is the same one promised back in Genesis 3 to Adam and Eve. The Messiah born out of Abram's descendant's is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Our Lord Jesus, even though born among the Israelites, as the Messiah of the Israelites, does something great and wonderful for all of us who were not born Jews. He extends His grace and mercy to us, by calling us into that nation and people. All we who are baptized, spiritually, are Jews, descendants of Abram, and brothers of our Lord Jesus. Indeed, the holy Church on earth, extends to all peoples and tongues. Christianity encompasses the whole earth. God is in great abundance has given to the descendants of Abram, not just Canaan, not just Jerusalem, not just the Holy Land, but He has given the whole world for us to live in and be a part of. And He also shows His abundant mercy, by not just calling Jews His people, but all peoples everywhere, His people.

This is all accomplished through His Son Jesus Christ, who by His obedience and death, as called us out of darkness, into this holy Nation. Our Lord Jesus, has restored His creation to Himself. He does this on the first day of the week, that is, on Sunday. The same day that He began creation, is the same day that He completes salvation. He recreates the earth that was corrupted by the sin of Adam by His resurrection from the dead. He takes the Nation that was dead in its trespasses and sins, and brings it back to life, just as He brought Himself back to life. And now He calls all nations to Himself through holy Baptism.

What great glad tidings this is for those of us who are baptized. We see this promise fulfilled in the holy Mother Church. And not just the Church that lives on the earth, but the whole history of the universal Church of all ages. When we consider also all those who have gained their heavenly reward, including the Blessed Abram and Sarai who were the parents of this great people, we cannot even fathom, let alone number, all the saints, who are part of this holy family. This is the family of which we who are baptized are a part. And seeing this family we can rejoice that the Lord fulfilled His promise to Abram. It makes sense, therefore, that if our Lord fulfilled this promise, and many other promises as well, He will fulfill all of His promises.

May God be with you!

Deacon Dulas

You Shall Not Tempt the Lord Your God: St. Luke 4:1-13

St. Luke 4:1-13: "1 Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry. 3 And the devil said to Him, 'If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.' 4 But Jesus answered him, saying, 'It is written, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God."' 5 Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said to Him, 'All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7 Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.' 8 And Jesus answered and said to him, 'Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, "You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve."' 9 Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, 'If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. 10 For it is written: "He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you," 11 and, "In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone."' 12 And Jesus answered and said to him, 'It has been said, "You shall not tempt the LORD your God."' 13 Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time."

The temptation of Jesus in the wilderness seems out of place in this season of Epiphany. This is afterall the narrative for Invocabit, the First Sunday in Lent, although that Gospel is from the Evangelist St. Matthew. So why does the temptation reading get appointed for this week after the First Sunday after Epiphany? The answer is that the readings for the mornings are following the natural progression in the life of our dear Lord Jesus. He was baptized, called his first disciples, and then is led out into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil for forty days. There are many things that can be said about this pericope, but here are a few.

Jesus is tempted, we are told, for forty days. This number 40 calls to mind several things. The Flood, where it rained for 40 days and 40 nights. The Exodus, where the Israelites spent 40 years in the wilderness. Moses was on the mountain for 40 days and nights when receiving the Law, both times, that is, when he first received them, and when they were broken on account of the Israelites making a golden calf, and then again a second time, to replace the first one, in which he did not eat bread nor drink water for those 40 days and nights, during which he pleaded with God for the lives of the Israelites. The Israelite spies spent 40 days spying on the land of Canaan, before they decided to not attack the land, and God forced them to spend 40 years in the wilderness. Forty was the maximum number of blows that was to be given to someone who was to be beaten because of their wrong doing. Goliath came out to challenge the Israelite army for 40 days and nights. The front of the Temple was 40 cubits long. The ten lavers of the Temple held 40 baths of water. From these examples, and there are plenty more, one can see that the number 40 is important in Scripture.

Another thing that can be pointed out about this pericope is the response of our Lord Jesus to the second temptation: "Get behind Me, Satan!" This reminds us of the Blessed St. Peter, when he tried to stop our Lord from going to the cross, immediately after confessing Him to be the Son of God. This is how our Lord responds to those who try to prevent Him from completing His work of saving mankind from their sin.

The next thing to be pointed out about this text is the temptation itself. St. Luke the Evangelist points out to us that our dear Lord Jesus was not just tempted after the 40 days and nights were completed, but that He was tempted throughout the forty days. The fact that this happens directly after His baptism, tells us something of our own Christian life. Immediately after having the Holy Ghost descend upon Him in the form of a dove, our Lord is driven into the wilderness and tempted. The same thing is true of us as well. The Blessed Dr. Martin Luther in his observations about baptism states that when we baptize someone, we make them an enemy of the devil. And because we make that person an enemy of the devil, he will have no end of trouble and sorrow, on account of the devil, the world and his own sinful flesh, which war against that holy thing which has been implanted into him.

The Temptation of Our Lord Jesus Christ is shown as a picture of our Christian lives. The devil is always leading us into temptation. However, unlike our Lord, we often fail at that temptation, especially if it is a particular sin we like to do. The good news is that our Lord resists the temptation. What that means for us is that the Evangelist St. Luke is here showing us that our Lord indeed does fulfill the Law with His obedience. Theologically speaking this is what we call our Lord Christ's "active obedience." That is to say, He actively obeys the Law on our behalf. This is coupled with what is known as His "passive obedience." Which is His death on the cross for our salvation, that is to say, He passively suffers in our place so that we won't have to. By these two forms of obedience, our Lord fulfills His work given to Him by the Father. And in so doing, He gives us a picture of how to resist temptation. It is done through knowledge of His Word.

We pray in the Lord's prayer, in the sixth petition, "And lead us not into temptation." * What we are praying for when we pray this is "that God would guard and keep us, so that the devil, the world, our flesh may not deceive us, nor seduce us into misbelief, despair, and other great shame and vice; and though we be assailed by them, that still we may finally overcome and obtain the victory." * How does God guard and keep us? We learned that from the third petition of the Lord's Prayer, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." * When God breaks and hinders every evil plan and purpose of the devil, the world, and our flesh, we are protected from them. This is done when He gives us His Word and Spirit (The first two petitions of the Lord's Prayer). He gives us these through preaching and the Sacraments. So how does one learn to resist temptation, by hearing and receiving the Word of God, and His Blessed Sacraments, wherein, He implants into us His Holy Spirit, so that we might resist these sinful desires, words, and actions.

What that means for us who desire to resist temptation like our Lord, is that we should be in the Church, and we should be in a parish that preaches the Word of God in its purity, and administers the Sacraments according to the institution of our Lord Christ, in order that we might receive the Holy Spirit, and thereby be given a way to resist temptation.

May this be done for us all.

God's peace be with you!

Deacon Dulas

* Translation from Doctor Martin Luther Small Catechism and An Explanation of Christian Doctrine based on Doctor Luther's Small Catechism, Edited by Markku Sarela, Published by The Confessional Lutheran Church of Finland, 1999.