Author: Robert Smith

The Roman system of law was not much different from ours, kind of a cross between our Grand Jury, Indictment and trial system and a general court-supreme court model. A local court would take on most of the infractions, would look at the evidence when it comes to serious matters and return a charge for the Roman court where necessary. The gathering at the High Priest’s home was much like a grand jury, the Sanhedrin, meeting in the outer courts of the temple, the lower court that brought the formal charges and Pilate’s court the high tribunal.

Pilate was an able, competent and experienced Prefect — a military governor — who had ruled Palestine mostly successfully for over thirty years. The Jewish people were notoriously unruly, requiring occasionally violent suppression from time to time. There were a few incidents where the leaders of the Jews set traps for him, resulting in reprimands from Rome.

When the Sanhedrin came with Jesus, he knew immediately that it was for envy that they charged him. He first tried to shift it back to them, only to be told that only he could judge Jesus, because Jesus was worthy of death. He next sent him to Herod, who was hoping Jesus would entertain him, but Jesus didn’t play along. So, it was back to Pilate.

After questioning Jesus, and hearing from his wife that she had been warned in a dream, Pilate was convinced that Jesus was innocent. So, Pilate offered to release a revolutionary, Barabbas, to them or Jesus. They shouted for Barabbas.

Pilate was still ready to release Jesus, repeating he found Jesus innocent. When, however, the Sanhedrin threatened to report him to Caesar, he gave in and allowed Jesus to be crucified.

He washed his hands, saying he would have nothing to do with it. That really did not work. Every Sunday, we confess Jesus was crucified under Pontius Pilate.

We are tempted to blame him, seeing he killed a man he knew to be innocent to save his skin. We are tempted to blame the Jewish leaders, for it was they who accused Jesus and assumed responsibility for his death.

But in the end, it was not Pilate, not the Jewish leaders, but Jesus, who is responsible for his death. He told Pilate as much when he said Pilate would have no authority if it wasn’t given to him. It is why he became a man in the womb of the Virgin Mary in the first place. It was he who bowed to his Father’s will, knowing full well he would bear the sins of the whole world to the cross.

Why would Jesus be condemned to die, then? It is because of my sins, because of your sins and the sins of all God’s children. He loved us before the creation of the world, was not willing to be parted from us for all eternity. Someone had to die and only God was innocent enough and man mortal enough to do it. So, he came, the Lamb of God, to take away the sins of the world. He set his face towards Jerusalem and went to his death, for you and for me. So, in this Lent, and always, when we are tempted to downplay our sins, God invites us to consider the cost, repent of them and receive from Jesus the forgiveness he earned for us that first Good Friday.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

©2025 Robert E. Smith. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@msn.com

Encore Post: Our evangelical brothers and sisters in Christ are all about making a decision for Christ. They will often ask, “Have you accepted Jesus as your personal Savior?” Such a question sounds strange to Lutherans, along with the similar question, “are you born again?” The reason is Lutherans believe these are really the wrong questions. Why? Because Jesus sought us, found us, saved us by his suffering and death, accepted us in baptism and gave new birth in it by water and the Holy Spirit. So, yes, thank you, I am born again, but no, I did not accept Jesus as my personal Savior. He accepted me and made me God’s child and his brother. There is nothing more personal than that.

I once was asked by someone if I could study all the Bible passages with him that talk about accepting Jesus as Savior. My answer was no, because there are no such passages. In fact, if you go through the Bible looking for people who were lost and sought God, you will find very few. Think about it for a moment: God made Adam and Eve. When they sinned, he came and found them. He went to Noah and told him to build the ark. He found Abraham and told him to leave home, promising to give him a son. He came to Jacob when the patriarch ran away and wrestled with him. He called to Samuel in the night. He sent Samuel to find and anoint David. Almost every book of the words of the prophets begins with: “and the word of God came to…” We don’t seek God, he seeks us out.

Why is this? We were dead in our sins. (Ephesians 2:1-3) As the saying goes, “Dead men tell no tales.” As Martin Luther says it, “I cannot by my own reason or strength, believe in my Lord Jesus Christ or come to him.” (Small Catechism 2.3) Because he loved us, he is gracious to us. He was moved in Christ Jesus to become one of us, live a perfect life for us, take our sins upon himself and die on the cross for us. It is by this grace we are saved, through his gift to us of faith.

In a sense, we can talk about decision theology, then. God decided to save us. He is our personal savior, because he made it so. We will live with him forever because of this. We can rest in the peace this brings, confident that he will remove every sin from us one day, the day he calls us forth from our graves and dries every tear in our eyes.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

©2019 Robert E. Smith. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@gmail.com

Dear Friends,

Over the past month, I’ve received feedback that readers would love to have all the posts in a particular series all in one file for future reference. At the urging of my sons, I’ve experimented with producing Kindle and print booklet form through Amazon’s publishing service.

I’ve created a Kindle Book of my Preparation for the Gospel series, which will run on the blog this month. Ironically, it is too short to offer as a booklet, so I will have to say more in it to flesh it out. (Imagine telling a pastor to talk more!) I will price these inexpensively, mostly covering cost, but truth in advertizing, I’ll make a little money with each one bought.

To follow how I’m doing on this, my Amazon Author page is:

Amazon.com: Robert E. Smith: books, biography, latest update

If you like this idea, please leave a comment.

In the peace of God in man made manifest,

Pastor Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Publisher of blog What Does This Mean?

©2024 Robert E. Smith. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@gmail.com

Encore Post: During Martin Luther’s lifetime, the Church Year was filled with Saints’ Days. Thousands of saints were remembered — and venerated. Some of the pressure on time was controlled by celebrating All Saints’ Day, so the ones without a day could be remembered. The day after was remembered as All Souls’ Day, to pray for the rest of us!

The Lutheran Reformers solved the crowding of the calendar by removing almost all the non-Biblical saints. A few like St. Valentine, St. Nicholas — and, curiously, St. Lawrence, remain to this day. Local congregations are, of course, free to celebrate others.

Some church bodies, like the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod have recognized the desire to remember figures from church history. They provide a list of commemorations for figures like Wilhelm Löhe, C. F. W. Walther, Martin Luther and so on. Commemorations, unlike saints’ days, do not have their own propers — special readings, a prayer of the day, psalms, etc.

The point of both kinds of days is to thank God for these faithful men and women. We remember their lives, the way they lived their lives in faith and to pray that we, too, may be faithful. After all, their suffering is over, their tears are gone, and their sorrows turned to joy. And it will not be very long before our Lord comes to bring us home, too. With them numbered may we be here and in eternity.

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastpr Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

©2020 Robert E. Smith. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@gmail.com

Encore Post: When I was a reference librarian, I frequently get asked whether (and where!) Martin Luther said a quotation people claim he said. Most of the time when I am asked to do so, I cannot find a place where he is recorded as saying or writing such a thing. That is not the case with the Luther quote “sin boldly,” which is often used by his opponents to claim Luther rejects God’s law for Christians. The short answer is: yes, he wrote this phrase, but, no, it does not mean what his opponents think it means.

Over Five hundred years ago, Luther was living in the Wartburg Castle — kind of as a safe house of sorts — under the name of Junker Jorg. At first, he had a difficult time adjusting — his diet switched from that of a monk to that fit for a noble. By August, he was settling in. He was far from idle there. Among the things he did was write an incredible number of letters to friends, allies, his prince and others. Few people knew exactly where he was — the letters all went to his friend Georg Spalatin, who was the chancellor for his prince Frederick the Wise. Spalatin then sent them on.

Soon Luther’s friends used the same channel to reply and to ask advice as to how to proceed in his absence. The letter where Luther writes — in Latin — “sin boldly” was penned August 1st, 1521. In it, Luther addresses the questions of whether monks should be held to their monastic vows and whether priests should be allowed to marry. Luther criticized these vows — among other things — as man-made laws. That these were to be valued more highly than God’s Word was a false commandment. To violate them was not a sin but an imaginary sin.

Serious Christians, such as Luther himself, had tortured themselves trying to observe such traditions. They felt great burdens of guilt for breaking these. Apparently, Philip Melanchthon and Luther’s allies couldn’t decide whether to set these aside. Luther’s advice was not to worry about these so-called sins. Be bold to just live your lives, but believe in Christ, who forgives sins even more boldly.

In this sinful world, Christians will never be free of sin. As another so-called Luther quote (this one he didn’t likely say) goes: “the Old Adam is a good swimmer.” He is drowning in baptism, but doesn’t give up without a good fight! As Christians, we need to remember to look to Jesus. He bore all our real sins to the cross. There he paid the full price due for our sin and the sins it performs and removes them forever. In Christ, we die to rise again on the last day without sin.

So, Luther’s advice to Melanchthon is good. Here is how he put it: “If you are a preacher of mercy, do not preach an imaginary but the true mercy. If the mercy is true, you must therefore bear the true, not an imaginary sin. God does not save those who are only imaginary sinners. Be a sinner, and let your sins be strong, but let your trust in Christ be stronger, and rejoice in Christ who is the victor over sin, death, and the world. We will commit sins while we are here, for this life is not a place where justice resides. We, however, says Peter (2. Peter 3:13) are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth where justice will reign. It suffices that through God’s glory, we have recognized the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. No sin can separate us from Him, even if we were to kill or commit adultery thousands of times each day. Do you think such an exalted Lamb paid merely a small price with a meager sacrifice for our sins? Pray hard for you are quite a sinner.”

©2021 Robert E. Smith. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@gmail.com

Sermon on Matthew 22:15-22
Monday of the 20th Sunday after Pentecost
Our Hope Lutheran Church
October 18th, 2020

Text: “Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why are you trying to trick me, Actors? Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. And Jesus said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore pay Caesar what you owe Caesar, and God what you owe God”

Intro: The year Isaac Watts wrote “Our God, our Help in Ages Past,” Queen Anne was dying. Her reign was an age of religious peace and tolerance. Watts was a dissenting protestant and before Queen Anne, his church was persecuted by the crown. The leading heir to the crown was Catholic, and many worried about a return of persecution. The fear was relieved when the Lutheran George I was crowned. The hymn reminded them—and us — that God is in charge of the world and our eternal home. On Tuesday of the first Holy Week, the Pharisees were trying to trap Jesus into a sound bite that would undo him. That day they tried politics. It didn’t work.

1. God appoints earthly governments—even the bad ones.
   1. Earthly governments maintain order and restrain evil.
   2. We owe them honor, obedience in earthly matters, prayers for their well-being and wisdom.
   3. When governments call on us to sin, only then may we disobey.
   4. When, as in a democracy, we are a part of the government; we are called by God to steer it towards the purposes for which it is ordained.
2. Yet obedience does not come easily to sinners.
   1. We cherish our freedom, and no one can tell us what to do.
   2. Government is made up by sinners, who often serve themselves more than God or the people.
   3. Even when they mean well, they often make things worse.
   4. We are tempted, then, to take things into our own hands.
3. God is our Eternal Home
   1. Yet Jesus reigns and will return to judge the world.
   2. He left his throne to die for our rebellion.
   3. He rose to open the grave to all believers.
   4. He has adopted us in Holy Baptism.
   5. We are now citizens of a heavenly kingdom.

Conclusion: So, we gladly serve our Lord, by supporting the government he’s given us, exercising our office of Elector of the Republic for his sake, but seeking first his kingdom, knowing all too soon we will go home where we truly belong.

Prayer: Our God, our Help in ages past, our Hope for years to come, our Shelter from the stormy blast, and our eternal Home; Be thou our guard while troubles last, And our eternal home. Amen.

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

©2020 Robert E. Smith. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@gmail.com

Sermon on Psalm 90
Twenty-First Sunday After Pentecost
Our Hope Lutheran Church
October 13-14, 2024

Text: Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

You return man to dust and say, “Return, O children of man!” For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night. You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning: in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers. For we are brought to an end by your anger; by your wrath we are dismayed. You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.

For all our days pass away under your wrath; we bring our years to an end like a sigh. The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you?

So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. Return, O LORD! How long? Have pity on your servants! Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil. Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!

Introduction: Our God, our Help in ages past, our Hope for years to come, our shelter from the storm blast, be Thou our Guard while troubles last, and our eternal Home. Amen.

‌Grace, mercy and peace, be to you from God our Father and from our coming Lord Jesus Christ.

‌Time is a curious thing. When we are little, it seems to go on forever. As we grow older, we start to notice time passing. First hours pass quickly, gone before we know it. Then days vanish and then months. As we get old, years disappear as well. We soon can grasp how a thousand ages in God’s sight are like an evening gone.

‌Yet sometimes time means nothing at all to us. We are filled with all the things that we can do and the plans that we can set for the future. Our minds and attention are filled with the things we must do, with the worries and challenges set before us. We can become quite busy with life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In the moments when we achieve our goals, we can be so filled with joy that we wish it would never end.

In ancient Rome, the city would celebrate its conquering generals with a triumph, a parade, in which the public could cheer them on. It is a lot like the big victory parades we celebrate today. Legend tells us that, during the triumph, a slave would whisper into the general’s ear, “memento mori” — “remember you will die.” It seems kind of morbid, doesn’t it? But, when we think about it, it’s not. It’s easy to forget God when we enjoy the blessings he gives us. It is why Moses urges us to pray: “teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.”

There are many reasons why it is wise to remember that we are mortal. One is that we can easily become accustomed to the blessings God has given us. It is easy to take them for granted and not as gifts God has given us to enjoy and to allow us to serve him and others. While we have the time, we need to thank God for them, enjoy the people he has placed in our lives, share the gospel with them. We may have time to do these things, but we do not know how long. Only God has our days numbered. Time, like an ever-rolling stream, bears all its sons away. They fly forgotten as a dream dies at the opening day.

Another reason is that this world itself is filled with the curse that came from Adam’s sin—and ours. Death and decay are all around us. We walk in the valley of the shadow of death. Hurricanes Helene and Milton have rudely reminded us this week that in an instant our lives can change. Satan, the World and our passions work to weaken our trust in God when the routines of our life lull us into complacency. We must never forget that God’s word commands our flesh to dust, “return child of men.”

As much as we like to think we deserve the things we have, our accomplishments and our relationships, we have none of these except by the grace and mercy of God. Our sins earn us nothing but sin and death. But because before the hills in order stood or earth received her frame, God loved us. The son of God came just in time, born of the virgin Mary, to bear our sins to the cross. There it paid for them all in his suffering and death. Having broken the seal of the grave, he rose from the dead that, even though we will return to dust, we will rise to everlasting life on the day of the resurrection of all flesh.

Yes, time is a funny thing. Our days are numbered, so it is really not right to say a particular life is short or long. God’s plan for it will come to pass and it will instead be complete. And yet—in a very real sense—our life will not end. We live our lives under the shadow of his throne, where we dwell secure. When the end of our days come, God’s own angels will carry us home where we will be at rest until, at his call, our bodies will rise again from death and we will live with God, body and soul, forever. After all, we are visitors here—God is our eternal home.

Our God, our Help in ages past, our Hope for years to come, be Thou our Guard while troubles last and our eternal home.

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

©2024 Robert E. Smith. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@gmail.com