I AM the LORD Your God: Exodus 20:1-23

Exodus 20:1-23: "1 And God spoke all these words, saying: 2 'I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. 7 You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. 8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. 12 Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you. 13 You shall not murder. 14 You shall not commit adultery. 15 You shall not steal. 16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 17 You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.' 18 Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. 19 Then they said to Moses, 'You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.' 20 And Moses said to the people, 'Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.' 21 So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was. 22 Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: "You have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. 23 You shall not make anything to be with Me--gods of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves."'

The people of Israel must have at first thought that what God proposed was a great thing. For they had just witnessed His great power in sending plagues upon the Egyptians, and destroying Pharaoh and his army. So, when the Lord God proclaimed that He was going to be their God and they would be His people, they must have thought that was a great thing, to have such a God as this. Furthermore, upon hearing the commandments for the first time, they must have thought these were good things too, for they protected them from the cruelty of their neighbors. And since the Jews lived among the Egyptians, and probably had suffered these things from the Egyptians, they must have thought these commandments were a good thing too. Then they learned how strict our Lord God desired for them to be kept.

God wants us to keep His law perfectly, and not just in deed, but also in thought and word, too. And because of the fall of Adam into sin, "no one is able to fulfill God's Law in a manner acceptable to God. Unbelievers do not fulfill it at all, and even the obedience of believers in Christ is sadly deficient. Christ alone has fulfilled God's Law."* We can see this from the fact that every commandment contains something that is forbidden, and something that is required. Even if we were able to not do the thing forbidden, we would fail to do the thing required.

In the First Commandment, God requires that we fear, love, and trust in Him above all things, and forbids us to have other gods. In the Second Commandment, God requires that we call upon His Name in every trouble, that we pray to Him, praise Him, and give Him thanks at all times, He forbids us to take His Name in vain, that is, curse, swear, use witchcraft, or other satanic arts, lie, and deceive by His Name. In the Third Commandment, God requires that we sanctify the holy day, that is, hold His Word sacred, and gladly hear and learn it, and He forbids us to despise preaching and His Word. In the Fourth Commandment, He requires that we honor our parents, serve them, and obey them, and hold them in love and esteem, He forbids that we depise or anger our parents and other authorities. In the Fifth Commandment, God requires that we help and befriend our neighbor in his every bodily need, He forbids us to kill, that is, to hurt or harm our neighbor in his body. In the Sixth Commandment, God requires us to lead a chaste and decent life in word and deed, and each love and honor his spouse, He forbids us to commit adultery and other sexual sins. In the Seventh Commandment, God requires us to help and improve our neighbor's property and business, and forbids us to steal, that is, to take our neighbor's money or property, or get them by false ware or dealing. In the Eighth Commandment, God requires that we defend our neighbor, speak well of him, and put the best construction on everything, He forbids us to bear false witness against our neighbor, that is, deceitfully belie, betray, slander or defame him. In the Ninth Commandment, God requires that we help and be of service to our neighbor in keeping his inheritance or house, He forbids that we covet our neighbor's house, that is, craftily seek to get it, or obtain it by a show of right. In the Tenth Commandment, God requires us to urge our neighbor's wife, servants, or cattle to stay and do their duty, He forbids that we covet them, that is, estrange, force or entice them away.

Therefore, God not only forbids things in the Commandments, but requires things as well. And so, that we might learn how serious our Lord God is about these commandments of His, He adds these words, to the beginning of the Commandments: "I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me." What does that mean? It means that God indeed threatens to punish all those who break His Commandments. Therefore, we should fear His wrath, and not act contrary to them.

But our Lord God also presents a promise with these Commandments, that is, that He would be "showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments." This is great news! God will show mercy to us, if we keep His commandments. Uh, oh! That is impossible for us! "O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death?"**

Here we see our deliverer, our dear Lord Jesus. We also see why this text comes at this particular time in the Church Year. Tomorrow, Sunday, is Quinquagesima, it is the Sunday before Lent, which starts this coming Wednesday on Ash Wednesday. Lent has always been a time of catechesis, and among Lutherans, it has been a time of catechesis in the Ten Commandments. For as we study the Ten Commandments, we see how little we keep them, and that brings to the forefront of our minds, our sin and transgressions, and our great need of forgiveness. This leads us to proclaim with the Blessed Apostle, St. Paul, "Who will deliver me from this body of death?" And this leads us to the cross. Where our dear Lord Jesus, after fulfilling the Law perfectly, something we were unable to do, but He was able to do perfectly on our behalf, He suffers and dies, taking on our punishment for transgressing the Commandments.

Therefore, the Lord God, the Great I AM, visits the iniquity of the fathers upon His very own Son, punishing that sin, not just for three or four generations, but for all the generations of man, that had come, and will come. He was punished once and for all, that all mankind might have forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation. And that is what He does for all those who have believed and been baptized, He shows us His love and mercy, that is, He doesn't treat us the way we deserve to be treated, but instead treats us the way His Son deserves to be treated. His Son, on account of His perfect sacrifice was rewared with life again, and now sits on the right hand of the Father judging the quick and the dead, proclaiming all those who believe and are baptized to be His children, His people, just like the people of Israel, who stood that day under the cloud, hearing our Lord's commandments.

This love and mercy is for thousands of generations, which is to say, it is for all generations. This means it is for you and for all! Certainly there are those who reject and despise this gift, who desire to remain a slave, in bondage to sin and death. And we must certainly continue to proclaim the Word of God in its truth and purity, continue to proclaim the Ten Commandments, so that people might realize their sin, and their grave condition, so that they might repent and believe, and be baptized, so that they too might have our Lord God's love and mercy. This is the task of the Church, it is what our Lord God has given us to do, while here on this Earth, and we pray that He would bless our efforts, so that His love and mercy may fill the whole world, and sin and death may be driven back by our Lord God.

May God be with you!

Deacon Dulas

* From "Doctor Martin Luther Small Catechism and Explanation of Christian Doctrine based on Doctor Luther's Small Catechism", Edited by Markku Sarela, Published by The Confessional Lutheran Church of Finland", page 114.
** Romans 7:14.

The Power of the Lord Was Present to Heal Them: St. Luke 5:12-39

St. Luke 5:12-39: "12 And it happened when He was in a certain city, that behold, a man who was full of leprosy saw Jesus; and he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, 'Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.' 13 Then He put out His hand and touched him, saying, 'I am willing; be cleansed.' Immediately the leprosy left him. 14 And He charged him to tell no one, 'But go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your cleansing, as a testimony to them, just as Moses commanded.' 15 However, the report went around concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities. 16 So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed. 17 Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them. 18 Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him. 19 And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus. 20 When He saw their faith, He said to him, 'Man, your sins are forgiven you.' 21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, 'Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?' 22 But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, 'Why are you reasoning in your hearts? 23 Which is easier, to say, "Your sins are forgiven you," or to say, "Rise up and walk?" 24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins'--He said to the man who was paralyzed, 'I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.' 25 Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. 26 And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, 'We have seen strange things today!' 27 After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, 'Follow Me.' 28 So he left all, rose up, and followed Him. 29 Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house. And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them. 30 And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, 'Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?' 31 Jesus answered and said to them, 'Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.' 33 Then they said to Him, 'Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?' 34 And He said to them, 'Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them? 35 But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days.' 36 Then He spoke a parable to them: 'No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old. 37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. 38 But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved. 39 And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, "The old is better."'

We are told by the Evangelist St. Luke that in a certain city our Lord Jesus was met by a man full of leprousy. We learned from the Evangelist St. Mark that this "certain city" was Capernaum. Why does the Evangelist St. Luke leave out the specific name of the city? It is because he is showing that this healing of the leper, although a specific instance here, happened throughout the land wherever our Lord Jesus went. And so, this same event happened often in many different places, and St. Luke, by relating one instance, relates all curing of lepers done by our Lord Jesus.

What is interesting about this healing embraces two things. One, the manner in which the leper approaches our Lord. And two, the fashion in which Lord Jesus heals the leper. In the first instance, the leper "fell on his face, and implored him." He approached Him as one would approach God. Let us first look at the ceremonial laws regarding lepers, for it will give us a greater understanding of what is happening here. For the full description of these laws governing leprousy, one can find them in Leviticus 13-14. Leprousy is a disease of the skin, that involves sores. It is still around today, but it is called "Hansen's disease." It can also be treated with a simple cream applied to the sores.

But for the Israelites of our Lord Jesus' time, and for the time during Moses, a leper had no cure. And this disease was very contagious. So if a leprous person touched another person, they could also acquire the disease. For this reason, lepers were considered "unclean." If one was diagnosed as a leper, and they were diagnosed by the priests, who would look at the sore, and determine if it was just a rash, or some other skin irration, or if it was indeed leprousy. If it was leprousy, then the person would be declared unclean, he would then be isolated from the rest of the people, most likely with other leprous people, he was to tear his clothes, and shave his head, and cover his mustache, and if he was out and about, and other people passed by, he was to shout out, "Unclean, unclean!" So that the person who they passed by knew that he was not to be approached on account of his leprousy.

The same was true when the leper was healed of his leprousy. He was to show himself to the priest, he was to shave his head, and wash himself and his clothes, and wait seven days outside his tent but among the people to see if it would return. If after seven days, he was still clean, he would shave his head again, along with his beard and eyebrows, and wash his clothes and his body, and then he would be clean. There were also sacrificial rituals attached to this as well. The most interesting being the taking of two clean birds, along with some cedar wood, and scarlet, then killing one of the birds over running water in a earthen vessel, and dipping the other bird, the cedar wood and scarlet into the blood of the other bird, and setting the alive bird free in a field as an atonement for the leper. For the complete details on the sacrificial element, they are in chapter 14 of Leviticus.

What is interesting about the approach of this leper to Jesus, is that he doesn't call out "Unclean, unclean!" like he was supposed to but instead approaches our Lord and falls on his face before Him. The priests were the only ones who could declare a leper clean or unclean, so what this leper is professing with his actions, is that our Lord Jesus is the True Priest. For what does he say? "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." Now consider for a moment that this leper, on account of his uncleanness, could not worship in the synagogues, he could not approach let alone come into the Temple. He was by law forced to live by himself. Therefore this individual was forbidden to be anywhere near the people of God, or the Church. And only a priest could grant that.

We see in this individual his great desire to be a part of the Church, and so he goes to the One Man Who can grant that desire. So, he shows himself to the True Priest, to be declared clean, so that he might worship the Lord again with the other people.

Even more strange than the man's behavior, is our Lord Jesus' behavior, for our Lord does not run away, or take a few steps back, but instead proclaims that He is willing to make this man clean. Then He doesn't something which was forbidden by ceremonial law, that is, to touch the unclean person. But in this He shows that He, as true God, has power over uncleanness, for our Lord is so pure and clean, that He can pass that cleanness along to this leper, so that he may be healed. The leper is then told to go and show himself to the priests, and he would be declared clean, and be allowed to once again enter into the synagogue and the Temple. In short, he would be welcomed back into the Church.

In this we see a picture of Private Confession and Absolution. For on account of our sin, we are leprous and unclean. But when we confess our sins, we are approaching the True Priest through the man of God who serves in His place, and having confessed our sins, and asked to be made clean, the Lord Jesus, through the minister, pronounces that we are clean, by pronouncing us forgiven of sins. We then live no longer as one leprous and unclean, that is, we do not return and immediately keep doing the sin which we just confessed and professed to not do anymore, but we instead, seek to live according to God's commandments.

This healing of the leper also brings to mind the restoration of someone who has been excommunicated. For they have been barred from receiving Holy Communion, just like the leper was forbidden to approach unto the synagogue. But after repentance of the sin, and confessing that what he did was wrong, the Church welcomes him back with open arms, no longer considering him unclean.

Therefore, we as the Church desire, like our Lord Jesus, that all those who remain outside, full of leprousy, unclean from sin, may show themselves to the priests, that is, the ministers of Giod, and confess their sins, and desire for themselves to be made clean through the waters of Holy Baptism, that they, like this leper, may be made a part of the synagogue of our Lord.

May God be with you!

Deacon Dulas