The Feast of the Holy Trinity, 2014
The Hymn # 246 Holy, Holy, Holy 3:35
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual
The Gospel
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Athanasian Creed p. 53
The Sermon Hymn #236 Creator Spirit 1:9
Nicodemus at Night
The Communion Hymn # 308 Invited Lord 1:63
The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #261 Lord Keep Us Steadfast 1:93
KJV Romans 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! 34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? 35 Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? 36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
KJV John 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? 5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. 9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? 10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? 11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? 13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
Pentecost Monday Gospel:
KJV John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Trinity Prayer
O Lord God, heavenly Father: We poor sinners confess that in our flesh dwelleth no good thing, and that, left to ourselves, we die and perish in sin, since that which is born of the flesh is flesh and cannot see the kingdom of God. But we beseech Thee: Grant us Thy grace and mercy, and for the sake of Thy Son, Jesus Christ, send Thy Holy Spirit into our hearts, that being regenerate, we may firmly believe the forgiveness of sins, according to Thy promise in baptism; and that we may daily increase in brotherly love, and in other good works, until we at last obtain eternal salvation, through the same, Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
Nicodemus at Night
KJV John 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
We should never overlook the details provided by John's Gospel, because they explain so much about early Christianity. Jesus converted NIcodemus through the spoken Word, which meant the Savior had an advocate in the Jewish leadership and a witness there to everything that happened.
John 7:50 Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them) said to them, 51 “Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?”
52 They answered and said to him, “Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee.”
John 19:39 And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds.
The Gospel carefully notes who Nicodemus is each time, since there could be another man with the same name. He was accused of being a follower of Jesus early on, by the Jewish leaders, and he risked his life to help bury Jesus.
Jewish and Roman leaders made sure Jesus would die, but some Jewish and Roman leaders were also converted, so the Gospel made its way through both areas of opposition.
And yet today, people are afraid to raise an objection to falsehood - lest someone might unfriend them or Facebook or they might lose a precious committee assignment with their synod.
2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
The origins of Nicodemus conversion were the Old Testament Scriptures, which prepared the way, and Jesus appearance as a boy in the Temple. We do not have a direct historical connection between Jesus in the Temple and Nicodemus becoming a believer. But that visit had to have a great impact.
For example, Ronald Reagan's first job was serving as a radio announcer in my hometown area, the Quad Cities. As president, he came back and sat down at the same microphone. That was 30 years ago, and people still speak about it. Some remember friends or relatives being in the studio, because of the excitement and local pride. Certainly the boy Jesus in the Temple had the same lasting effect, even more so, because the Word of God is always effective in opposition and conversion. The Word incites great opposition, and it also converts in person, in reading, and even in remembering.
Nicodemus had faith in Jesus when he came to Him, but it was a weak and curious type of faith. He probably came at night because of fear. That label stuck with him in the Gospel - Nick at Night (an old children's TV show). But he wanted to know.
Children receive faith in Holy Baptism, if not before from the Word (their parents speaking to them about the Gospel). Baptism is definite and gives us certainty about their conversion. But note - infant faith is not dithering. Children have an all-encompassing faith. If it is nourished with the Word, it can withstand the challenges of becoming an adult.
It is more difficult for an adult to unlearn all the errors.
God chose to build the foundation of the Christian faith on Judaism, which is no different in its pure form.
However, by the time of Jesus, there were so many Pharisaical traditions that the errors submerged the clear Gospel of Isaiah 53 (for example) and justification by faith. Nevertheless, because people studied and heard the Word, there were believers, and Nicodemus was one.
Nicodemus' first confession was rather weak, but it was a beginning. Jesus came from God - because of His miracles. Therefore, He had to have God's blessing. And that was important, to see the wonders confirming the Word.
Modern rationalists reverse that. By undermining the miracles first, they undermine Jesus as the Son of God. They do not choose a frontal assault on His divinity, which would not end well for them. They just add those little corrosive doubts to each miracle until all of them have a reasonable explanation.
3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again [from above], he cannot see the kingdom of God.
This is the great pun on born-from-above, which can be understood in the context of Jesus' sermons in John. This can only be understood in Greek, so it is commonly misunderstood as "a conversion experience" in English.
The primary meaning of the adverb is "from above." However, the secondary meaning is "again." Those who discussed things with Jesus (the woman at the well, chapter 4, and Peter in discussing foot-washing) picked up on the wrong information, which is called a fallacy of emphasis (often used in humor).
Nicodemus is a bit foolish in asking about being born a second time when he was told he must be born from above. Like the man born blind, there is a bit of humor in the conversation. More importantly, this conversation is a catechism by itself. That is why we have it for the Holy Trinity Gospel lesson.
Jesus said, "A man cannot see the Kingdom of God unless he is born from above."
4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
This response is so bizarre that children remember it without really comprehending how dense it was at the time. As such, it makes the conversation memorable. "Oh, that one."
5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit [ be water/Spirit born], he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
This also needs some grammatical analysis. The "of" in the KJV means it is an extra word added for clarity. The Greek really means water/Spirit born. By leaving out the article, which we do with /, the two words are welded together.
It does not separate the Holy Spirit from baptism, as the Pentecostals want to believe. It does just the opposite. The Greek grammar, which Jesus used, puts the two together.
To be baptized in water (with the Word) is to be baptized by the Spirit. For adults, this means confirming the conversion to faith. For babies and their families, baptism marks the beginning of the Faith in that soul.
There are exceptions, like the thief on the cross, but the norm is baptism and faith, one preceding the other. To ignore one is to deny the other.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again [from above]. 8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
For unbelievers, especially those within the visible (institutional) church, everything is flesh - human reason, money, lust, power. Unbelievers think carnally because they are born of flesh alone.
In contrast, when someone is converted by the Spirit at work in the Word, the spiritual viewpoint takes over. The two are worlds apart - flesh and spirit - and they contend against each other, in us and in society, in all congregations.
The power of the Spirit is illustrated by the wind. This is another word-play. Spirit and wind are the same in Greek and Hebrew. No one doubts the power of the wind. Some think that the ancient Egyptians raised large stones by using wind power, via kites. If you doubt the power, experience a hot desert wind some day.
The wind has the power to destroy large buildings and turn semis into toys flying in the air. We saw the effect of the Joplin tornado, one year later, where over 160 people died.
Luther and others have commented on the power of the Spirit in the Word, when patiently taught. Often no results are seen for decades. Suddenly, from our viewpoint, an entire region is converted. That happened at Yale when the president, Timothy Dwight, taught the Scriptures for the longest time. Suddenly there was an interest in the Bible once again.
What believers do and accomplish, through the Spirit, is just what Jesus taught. No one can predict or measure how much it is. The Spirit is like the wind, powerful and invisible.
9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? 10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? 11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? 13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Here we have the clearest possible teaching of the sufficiency of faith in Christ. All possible good, starting with forgiveness and salvation, come from faith in Christ. No conditions are attached to faith. It is not faith plus good works, the subtle but fatal error promoted by Rome and the sectarians.
But good works come from this faith.
Faith saves and unbelief condemns. Jesus taught faith in Him. The Spirit witnesses to the Father/Son relationship, and thus we have the work of the Holy Trinity.
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Ambrose is supposed to be the Book of Concord expert on UOJ.
Yep - he is against it. |
