Mid-Week
Lenten Vespers, March 14, 2012
Pastor
Gregory L. Jackson
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bethany-lutheran-worship
The Psalmody Psalm p.
128
The Lection The
Passion History
The Sermon Hymn #249 Isaiah Mighty Seer 2.72
The Sermon – Isaiah’s Report.
The Prayers
The Lord’s
Prayer
The Collect
for Grace p.
45
The Hymn # 558 All
Praise 2:9
KJV Isaiah
53:1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry
ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no
beauty that we should desire him. 3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man
of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces
from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he hath borne our
griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of
God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he
was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon
him; and with his stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the
iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not
his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her
shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. 8 He was taken from prison and
from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of
the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. 9
And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because
he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it
pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou
shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall
prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his
hand. 11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be
satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he
shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with
the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath
poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and
he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Our Report
KJV Isaiah
53:1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
This chapter
is quoted so often in the New Testament that it can be put together from the NT
citations of those verses.
The famous
Means of Grace chapter, Romans 10, uses this verse. In both places “report” is
more like the proclamation of Good News. When Jesus healed miraculously, the
report went out everywhere. People knew about Him from those healings and His
teaching. They believed in Him as the Savior, the Messiah, and worshiped Him.
Paul wrote
that faith comes from this report.
KJV Romans
10:16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath
believed our report? 17 So then faith cometh by
hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.
The report is
the Word of God, and the Holy Spirit works primarily by condemning lack of
faith.
The entire
purpose of the Christian Church is to bring forgiveness to people through the
Gospel. It is not to condemn people for their sins, since we are condemned
already without faith. However, many think the purpose of the Church is to
condemn carnal sin, which is easy and obvious, and to prescribe
Law for
salvation, which is also easy.
During Lent,
especially during Lent, people go to extremes to earn salvation when it is
free. They torture themselves, walk miles on their knees, and endure extreme
suffering “to pay for” their sins. But the Atonement means their sins were paid
for by Christ on the cross. To pay again means He was not successful or not
adequate in paying for our sins.
The Gospel
produces faith as a work, a gift of the Holy Spirit. Faith receives the
forgiveness promised in the Gospel.
This chapter
had the effect of preparing people for the Messiah without knowing it as a
prophecy. The details are so precise that everyone can see that this chapter is
all about Jesus. Children never miss the object of the chapter, and we can see
why.
I am not
saying children are the last to know, but the first. Jesus did not commend
children to “believe as adult” but adults to “believe as children.” Many adults
study this chapter and do not see Jesus in it. All children do.
C. S. Lewis
said many adults missed who Aslan was. Children never did. After I promoted the
early animation of “Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe,” my mother said – after watching
it – “That was a nice cartoon, but what was the point. Why in church?” I
explained Asland dying and rising again and then it dawned on her. And that was
not for lack of intelligence and reading.
Many adults
brag they have outgrown a child-like faith, as if that is worth boasting about.
And yet it opposes what Jesus taught.
2 For he
shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground:
he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no
beauty that we should desire him.
Jesus did not
attract people by His physical beauty or remarkable looks. Both are often the
primary attraction of leaders. One high school athlete posted his photo on our
reunion site. One woman wrote, “Tom you are still a knock-out.” Many people
have remarked that one presidential candidate has the advantage of looking like
a president.
3 He is
despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and
we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed
him not.
This next
verse explains the ministry of Christ with even more detail, foreshadowing what
would happen during the Passion. Not only was He not attractive in the normal
sense, but He became despised and rejected. This we know is the crucifixion,
when all but a few abandoned Him.
4 Surely he
hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted.
This reminds
me of the Gospel of John, where a statement is repeated in different ways, with
more emphasis and detail each time. This verse concerns the atonement or
reconciliation. It predicts how Jesus would bear our griefs and sorrows. We can
judge in reverse that this shows the Two Natures of the Messiah, completely
human in understanding our suffering and yet bearing it on our behalf, paying
for our sins.
5 But he was
wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities:
the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are
healed.
This is the
key atonement verse. Many suffer for their own sins. Many suffer in sacrificing
themselves for others, such a soldiers who brave enemy action to save the lives
of their fellow soldiers. My classmate from Moline earned the Medal of Honor
for that in Viet Nam. He single-handedly saved many lives in ferocious enemy
action. He did not suffer for all mankind. That is the difference.
The divine
nature of Jesus is also shown in His suffering accomplishing something for every
single person in the world. At the center of history, His crucifixion was
complete and final payment for the sins of mankind.
That is where
people become confused. Jesus atoned for the sins of the world. He redeemed the
world. He took on sin. But that is not the same as God’s declaration of
forgiveness, which comes only through faith.
Leaving out
the Means of Grace, the Word and Sacraments, has yielded two different results.
One is
Unitarian-Universalism. They skip the details and have all people forgiven and
saved.
Another is
Calvinism. Because Calvin separated the Holy Spirit from the Word, the result
is that atoned only for the few.
With Decision
Theology (Arminian, a reaction against Calvin), man created or cooperates in salvation
by “making a decision.” (The exact same language is found in WELS J. P. Meyer,
Ministers of Christ.)
The answer is
in the oft-neglected Means of Grace. God works through the various Instruments
of Grace to give us grace, mercy, forgiveness, and salvation.
Quotations
"Other
writings, however, of ancient or modern teachers, whatever name they bear, must
not be regarded as equal to the Holy Scriptures, but all of them together be
subjected to them, and should not be received otherwise or further than as
witnesses, [which are to show] in what manner after the time of the apostles,
and at what places, this [pure] doctrine of the prophets and apostles was
preserved."
Formula of Concord, Epitome, Part I,
2, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia
Publishing House, 1921, p. 777. Tappert, p.
465.
"We believe, teach, and confess that the sole rule and standard
according to which all dogmas together with [all] teachers should be estmated
and judged are the prophetic and apostolic Scriptures of the Old and the New
Testament alone, as it is written in Psalm 119:105: 'Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a
light unto my path.' And
St. Paul: 'Though an angel
from heaven preach any other gospel unto you, let him be accursed,' Galatians
1:8." Formula of Concord, Epitome, Part I,
1, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia
Publishing House, 1921, p. 777. Tappert, p. 464. Psalm 119:105; Galatians
1:8.
"Therefore, before the conversion of man there are only two
efficient causes, namely, the Holy Ghost and the Word of God, as the instrument
of the Holy Ghost, by which He works conversion. This Word man is [indeed] to hear;
however, it is not by his own powers, but only through the grace and working of
the Holy Ghost that he can yield faith to it and accept it." Formula of
Concord, Epitome, II, Of the Free Will, #19, Concordia Triglotta, St.
Louis: Concordia Publishing
House, 1921, p. 791. Tappert, p.
472.
"This power {the Keys} is exercised only by teaching or preaching
the Gospel and administering the Sacraments, according to their calling, either
to many or to individuals. For
thereby are granted, not bodily, but eternal things, as eternal righteousness,
the Holy Ghost, eternal life. These
things cannot come but by the ministry of the Word and the Sacraments, as Paul
says, Romans 1:16: The
Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. Therefore, since the power of the
Church grants eternal things, and is exercised only by the ministry of the
Word, it does not interfere with civil government; no more than the art of
singing interferes with civil government."
Augsburg Confession, Article XXVIII,
#8, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia
Publishing House, 1921, p. 85. Tappert, p. 82. Romans
1:16
"For this reason we shall now relate, furthermore, from God's Word
how man is converted to God, how and through what means [namely, through the
oral Word and the holy Sacraments] the Holy Ghost wants to be efficacious in
us, and to work and bestow in our hearts true repentance, faith, and new
spiritual power and ability for good, and how we should conduct ourselves
towards these means, and [how we should] use them."
Solid Declaration, Article II, Free
Will, 48, Formula of Concord, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p.
901. Tappert, p.
530.
"Therefore God, out of His immense goodness and mercy, has His
divine eternal Law and His wonderful plan concerning our redemption, namely,
the holy, alone‑saving Gospel of His eternal Son, our only Savior and Redeemer,
Jesus Christ, publicly preached; and by this [preaching] collects an eternal
Church for Himself from the human race, and works in the hearts of men true
repentance and knowledge of sins, and true faith in the Son of God, Jesus
Christ. And by this means,
and in no other way, namely, through His holy Word, when men hear it preached
or read it, and the holy Sacraments when they are used according to His Word,
God desires to call men to eternal salvation, draw them to Himself, and
convert, regenerate, and sanctify them. 1
Corinthians 1:21: 'For
after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.' Acts 10:5‑6..."
Solid Declaration, Article II, Free
Will, #50, Formula of Concord, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p.
901. Tappert, p. 530f. 1 Corinthians 1:21; Acts 10:5‑6.
"Now, although both, the planting and watering of the preacher, and
the running and willing of the hearer, would be in vain, and no conversion
would follow it if the power and efficacy of the Holy Ghost were not added
thereto, who enlightens and converts the hearts through the Word preached and
heard, so that men believe this Word and assent thereto, still, neither
preacher nor hearer is to doubt this grace and efficacy of the Holy Ghost, but
should be certain that when the Word of God is preached purely and truly,
according to the command and will of God, and men listen attentively and
earnestly and meditate upon it, God is certainly present with His grace, and
grants, as has been said, what otherwise man can neither accept nor give from
his own powers." Solid Declaration, Article II, Free
Will, 55‑56, Formula of Concord, Concordia Triglotta, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1921, p.
903. Tappert, p. 531f.
"Is the Lord's Supper the place to display my toleration, my
Christian sympathy, or my fellowship with another Christian, when that is the
very point in which most of all we differ; and in which the difference means
for me everything‑‑means for me, the reception of the Savior's atonement? Is this the point to be selected for
the display of Christian union, when in fact it is the very point in which
Christian union does not exist?"
Theodore E. Schmauk and C. Theodore
Benze, The Confessional Principle and the Confessions, as Embodying the
Evangelical Confession of the Christian Church, Philadelphia: 1911, p.
905f.
"Another defect of Reformed preaching is its contempt for the
Means of Grace. They will
tell you that the Holy Spirit needs no vehicle, neither ox‑cart nor aeroplane,
to enter the heart of man; and by this rationalistic argument they think to
have done away with the Means of Grace. But
notice how they set about immediately to construct their own Means of
Grace. Luther told them in
his day:'If the Holy Spirit needs no vehicle, no preaching, then why are you
here? And why are you so
earnest in spreading your errors? It
seems that what you really meant to say was that the Holy Spirit does not need
true prophets, but He is very much in need of false prophets.' If the Holy
Spirit needs no Means of Grace, who do these Reformed churches undertake their
campaigns of revivalism?"
Martin S. Sommer, Concordia Pulpit for
1932, Martin S. Sommer, St. Louis: Concordia
Publishing House, 1931, p. iv.
"Transubstantiation is also one of the pillars that support the
papalist kingdom...Rather, it is that they may retain and establish the
sacrifice of the Mass, reservation, carrying about, adoration of the bread, and
all the things which, outside of the divinely instituted use, have been joined
to these things‑‑for this reason they fight so persistently about transubstantiation."
Martin Chemnitz, Examination of the
Council of Trent, trans., Fred Kramer, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1986,
II, p.
253.
"For Scripture never calls either Baptism or the Lord's Supper
mysteries or sacraments. Therefore
this is an unwritten (agraphos) appellation."
Martin Chemnitz, Examination of the
Council of Trent, trans., Fred Kramer, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1986,
II, p.
29.
"They imagine that by means of these actions, motions, gestures,
and ceremonies, with certain words added about sacrifice, oblation, and victim,
they are sacrificing and offering the body and blood of Christ, yes, Christ,
the Son of God Himself, anew to God the Father through such a theatrical
representation (which is either a comedy or a tragedy) of Christ's passion."
Martin Chemnitz, Examination of the
Council of Trent, trans., Fred Kramer, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1986,
II, p.
446.
"To institute a form of worship beside and without the Word of
God, and indeed one to which is ascribed propitiation for sins, appeasement of
the wrath of God, is a vain thing; it cannot please God; yes, it is
idolatry. For 'in vain they
worship Me with doctrines and commandments of men.' Likewise: 'Without faith it is
impossible that a thing should please God.' Faith, however, 'comes by hearing, and
hearing by the revealed Word of God.'"
Martin Chemnitz, Examination of the
Council of Trent, trans., Fred Kramer, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1986,
II, p.
493.
"That it lacks true, firm, and solid grounds in Scripture is,
however, not the only thing we criticize in the papalist Mass; what we complain
about most of all is that it is an abomination, conflicting with the doctrine
of the Word, the sacraments, and faith‑‑yes, that it is full of abuse against
the unique sacrifice of Christ and against His perpetual priesthood, as this
has been demonstrated at length by the men on our side in fair and honest
writings."
Martin Chemnitz, Examination of the
Council of Trent, trans., Fred Kramer, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1986,
II, p.
493.
"The papalist Mass, as we have described it in the beginning,
militates against the one propitiatory sacrifice of Christ in many ways and is
an affront to it. For there
is only one propitiatory sacrifice that expiates and renders satisfaction for
sins‑‑the offering of Christ made on the cross (Hebrews 7:27; 9:12, 26; 10:12)."
Martin Chemnitz, Examination of the
Council of Trent, trans., Fred Kramer, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1986,
II, p.
494.
"The papalist Mass, as we have described it in the beginning,
militates against the one propitiatory sacrifice of Christ in many ways and is
an affront to it. For there
is only one propitiatory sacrifice that expiates and renders satisfaction for
sins‑‑the offering of Christ made on the cross (Hebrews 7:27; 9:12, 26; 10:12)."
Martin Chemnitz, Examination of the
Council of Trent, trans., Fred Kramer, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1986,
II, p.
494.
"In addition there is this perversion, that whereas Christ
instituted the use of His Supper for all who receive it, who take, eat, and
drink, the papalist Mass transfers the use and benefit of the celebration of
the Lord's Supper in our time to the onlookers, who do not communicate, yes, to
those who are absent, and even to the dead."
Martin Chemnitz, Examination of the
Council of Trent, trans., Fred Kramer, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1986,
II, p.
498.
"In addition there is this perversion, that whereas Christ
instituted the use of His Supper for all who receive it, who take, eat, and
drink, the papalist Mass transfers the use and benefit of the celebration of
the Lord's Supper in our time to the onlookers, who do not communicate, yes, to
those who are absent, and even to the dead."
Martin Chemnitz, Examination of the
Council of Trent, trans., Fred Kramer, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1986,
II, p.
498.
"If anyone says that the canon of the Mass contains errors and
should therefore be abrogated, let him be anathema." [Chapter IV, Canon VI] Chemnitz: "The power, yes, the substance
and as it were the soul of the papalist sacrifice is the canon of the
Mass. Therefore they labor
much more for its retention than about the canon of Scripture itself, which
they are not afraid to corrupt by mixing in other, noncanonical books."
Martin Chemnitz, Examination of the
Council of Trent, trans., Fred Kramer, St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1986,
II, p.
508.
