She had three strikes against her. First, and most obviously, she was a woman, and according to the rules of Jesus’ day, men didn’t talk to women in public. Second, she was a Samaritan, and according to the rules of Jesus’ day, Jews had no dealings with Samaritans. And third, she was a five time loser in the marriage game now living with number six who was not her husband, and according to the rules of Jesus’ day, no one would really want to have anything to do with her. Except Jesus.
“If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?”
That’s the question of the day from Jesus to Rabbi Nicodemus. And it’s for us too. There are two perspectives to this life and to this world - from below and from above. There are also two religions in this world - the religion from below and the religion from above. The “from below” perspective is our perspective, the world as we see and experience it. It’s a world of cause and effect, a world that at times seems arbitrary and capricious, an “eat or be eaten”, “survival of the fittest” kind of world in which might is right and the strongest, smartest, fastest survive. The “from below” religion is a religion of the law, a religion of principles, of methods, of exercises, of things you do to gain control over your life, others, the forces of nature, whatever.
Jesus was tempted in every way we are and did not sin. The devil had met his match. On earth was not his equal. We are putty in the devil’s hands. God had to make enmity because we were friends and allies. God had to become man to set humanity against the devil. The one little Word that could fell him became Flesh to be tempted for us all.
"Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom." Six days later, Peter, James and John saw just that: Jesus, the Son of Man, in the glory of His kingdom. It’s Transfiguration Sunday, the last of the Epiphany Sundays, the big epiphany where we hear of Jesus shining like the sun in the presence of Moses and Elijah. There’s much more to Jesus than meets the eye.
Luke 1:39-56 (The Visitation)
Preached for choral vespers featuring Bach's Cantata #147 ("Hertz und Mund und Tat und Leben") at St. John's Lutheran Church - Orange, CA. 23 February 2014.
The Visitation brings together two very unlikely women - Elizabeth and Mary. They are kinswomen, cousins of one degree or another. Elizabeth is six months pregnant. Mary has just received the “happy news” from the angel. A mother-to-be who is hold enough to be your grandmother or even great-grandmother. And a pregnant virgin. Truly, with God nothing is impossible!
“You will be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.”
“You will be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
Are they threat or promise? Marching order or guarantee? Something we are to do or something God in Christ has done? Are they Law or Gospel?
You will be holy. Holy. Not pretty good or basically decent. Holy in the way the Lord your God is holy. You will be perfect. Perfect. Not trying hard, not making good progress, not 95 on a scale of 100. Perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect. If these are the kingdom standards, are you able to rise up to meet them? Jesus’ last two “but I say to you” sayings should put that notion to rest.
Last week, we heard Jesus say that He had come not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it, and that anyone who relaxed the slightest commandment in the Law and taught others to do so, would be called “least” in the kingdom of God. The Law of God cannot be negotiated or compromised. And you dare not toy with it. It will accuse you, it will amplify and magnify your sin, and it will kill you. Religion tends to play with the Law as though it were a poodle on a leash. But Jesus unleashes a Doberman with fangs and a spiked collar on all who would play with the Law as though it were a pet.
You are salt and light. You, baptized believer, disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ-you are the salt of the earth; you are the light of the world.
Salt seasons and preserves. It works hiddenly, and you don’t need terribly much of it to make a big difference. Just a bit sprinkled here and there, and the whole dish is seasoned. You are not the main dish. That’s Jesus. You’re salt. The seasoning, scattered as Jesus’ priesthood throughout the earth, seasoning your little corner of it by the death and resurrection of Jesus which is what makes you salty. Lose that, and you lose your saltiness, which makes you pretty much useless except to be packed as pavement under people’s feet. Lose the Gospel, the death and resurrection of Jesus for the justification of the sinner, and you are left with nothing more than bland religion. No salt.
It is forty days after Christmas and we’ve come to February 2nd and the Presentation of our Lord. The little high priest pays a visit to the temple. And being only forty days old, he can’t quite make it on his own so he has to be brought there by Mary and Joseph. What happens to Jesus is prescribed by the Law of the Lord - “Every male who first opens the womb shall be holy to the Lord.” If it is an animal you sacrifice it. If it is a baby boy, you offer an animal in his place, or in this case, “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.” Mary and Joseph were poor, we surmise. So it is: life for life. The Redeemer of the world is redeemed by the blood of a couple of pigeons. Go figure.
The chief weapon in the hands of the devil is division. Drive a wedge between Christians. Divide congregations. Divide the church. “Divide and conquer” is his strategy against the church. Weaken the enemy by dividing the troops against each other. He’s a wolf looking for the lone sheep, the isolated one who is wandering by himself in the wilderness away from flock and shepherd. There is nothing more vulnerable than the solitary sheep, the one left all alone. There is nothing more vulnerable to crafts and assaults of the evil one than the individual believer all by himself. He is easy pickings for the old evil wolf.