Encore Post: [Second is a series of posts on Martin Luther’s Small Catechism]
The Catechism contains the chief parts of the faith. At the heart of it are the big three pieces: the 10 Commandments, the Apostles’ Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer. Dr. Luther also attached Confession, the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, and the Sacrament of the Altar. Luther wanted his students to know the catechism by heart.
The Catechism ought to be learned out loud for memory’s sake. It should be memorized by the hearers as it is used in the divine service. Four pieces of the catechism are mainstays within the liturgy (Apostles Creed, Lord’s Prayer, Confession, and Sacrament of the Altar). The Ten Commandments are effectively understood to be in play when we confess our sins to God. Luther gives us that instruction in his explanation when asking, “What sins should we confess?” The Sacrament of Baptism still occurs within the confines of the Divine Service as well, but unfortunately, baptisms appear to be fewer and farther between. However, we should not downplay baptisms, as at every moment of the Divine Service, we are reminded of the gifts He gives us through our baptisms into Christ Jesus.
We memorize the catechism because it is, in fact, nothing other than the Words of Christ. The Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer are taken directly from Scripture. The Creed is effectively the entire story of the Bible distilled into 3 articles of faith: the confession of Creation, Redemption, and Sanctification in and through the work of the blessed Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are granted faith as we hear the word of God revealed to us in the Catechism. The Catechism, then, is perhaps the greatest place to begin when teaching the faith to the littlest among us, as well as the young in the faith.
The Word of God is important, and we ought to be in the Word as often as possible. The Catechism ought to be memorized and used by the faithful so that it becomes embedded in our hearts. If it is not used in our daily devotional life, the words of the catechism will quickly leave us. But if the words of the catechism are memorized or learned by heart, the vocabulary of the catechism informs our faith and entire life. It is after the words of our Lord for the instruction in the faith.
Encore Post: Lucia was a virgin maiden born in Syracuse, Sicily, to a well-to-do family in the Roman Empire around the year 286 AD. She was put to death for her faith around the year 304 AD, during Emperor Diocletian’s persecution. She is upheld in nearly every Christian tradition that remembers and commemorates the saints. Lutherans commemorate her day on December 13th. Other traditions, such as the Roman Catholic Church, hold a Mass on her day in her honor. While Lutherans do not have a festival service with the Eucharist on her specific day, Lutherans with connections to Scandinavia are more likely to hold some kind of service, whether a Divine Service or, more simply, a prayer office on that day.
What do we know about Lucia? Well, unfortunately, we know very little, honestly. The oldest records come from the 5th-century book Acts of the Martyrs. All of Lucia’s accounts agree that she was betrothed to a man who was not a Christian. According to the traditional story, Lucia was born into a wealthy family. Her father was of Roman origin, but died when Lucia was quite young. Lucia’s mother was of Greek descent.
As Lucia got older, she took the Christian faith more seriously, even consecrating herself to the Lord, meaning that she was to remain a virgin. However, she did not mention this to her mother. Her mother, fearing for Lucia’s future, arranged for Lucia to be married to the wealthy young son of a pagan family.
Now, this is where the legend becomes weird to our Lutheran ears. Lucia’s mother was sick with a bleeding disorder (from my reading of the different accounts, it sounds like the flow of blood of the woman in the Gospels). 52 years before, St. Agatha, another virgin, had been martyred. It is said that St. Agatha appeared to Lucia in a dream, encouraging her to persuade her mother to take a pilgrimage to Catania. Mom went and was cured of her disorder, and Lucia convinced her to allow the dowry for her impending marriage to be given away to the poor. This did not sit well with the man to whom she was to be married.
Lucia’s husband was said to have sent word to the Governor of Syracuse, accusing her of being a Christian. The Governor took Lucia into custody and ordered her to burn incense to the Emperor. Lucia refused to do so. The Governor then ordered her to be sexually assaulted. Legend also states that when they tried to move her from place to place, a team of oxen was unable to move her. Then they attempted to kill her by burning, but the wood would not catch fire. Lucia was killed with a sword. Other traditions speak about her eyes being gouged out and given to the man whom she was to marry because he prized her eyes. We do not know the truth of such claims.
Lucia’s name appears to be connected to the Latin “Lux” or “light.” Many traditions, especially those in Scandinavia, connect Lucia to light. She is a bearer of light in the darkness of winter. Some traditions that still occur in households involve setting a crown of candles on the head of the daughter of the house, and her going to each family member’s room in the morning with “St. Lucia Buns.” They are baked goods that incorporate saffron into the dough.
While Saint Lucia may not be well known today, she can serve as a model for keeping the faith and expressing hope in the Lord Jesus, who has called all his Christians to take up their cross and follow Him daily. While Lucia’s story is likely embellished in places, we can and should remember her as a saint who died for her faith in the face of brutal persecution. Like all the faithful who call on the name of the Lord, she has been given the crown of life and basks in the light of our Lord’s mercy.
Encore Post: “Who are you?” That was the question the Jews had when John came on the scene. John confessed and did not deny, but confessed emphatically that he was not the Christ. Okay, that makes sense. He must be Elijah then, for Elijah was said to return according to the prophet Malachi. But John’s answer to that question had to leave the Jews scratching their heads. He said he wasn’t Elijah either, at least not Elijah returned from Heaven. Perhaps he was the prophet who was to come, the Prophet like Moses. Nope, that’s not it either. So, John was a perplexing figure, to say the least.
They couldn’t figure him out. They seem to be on the right track to some extent, but just can’t seem to connect the dots. Especially when John speaks of himself as the voice crying in the wilderness, “Make straight the way of the Lord.” While the Pharisees wanted to know more about John, John didn’t seem to care much about making himself known. He had one job. And he was set on doing it well. He was proclaiming the One who was to come. That’s the message that John was to proclaim, not preach himself but Christ.
John preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, and that one was coming who would baptize with the Holy Spirit. The work of making the Lord’s way straight was beginning. It was falling into place. For the Lord was coming soon to the river Jordan, and His ministry was quickly beginning. Rejoice!
But the Jews did not rejoice. No, they played the part of John 1. Jesus came to his own and they received them not. John the Baptist makes it sound like Jesus is actually in the midst of the crowd listening to the conversation that very day, when he says, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” Jesus was unknown to these Jews, a face easily forgotten in the sea of people around them out in the wilderness. But to those who heard and believed the preaching of John, they were made sons and daughters of God.
John tries with all his might to make sure, once and for all, that everyone who hears his voice understands that He is not the Christ. Even though John came in the spirit and power of Elijah, and Jesus in the synoptic Gospels, leads his disciples to understand John to be the fulfillment of Malachi 4, John never says that He is Elijah. That would be too much for the people. They would follow John rather than follow Christ. And in fact, even though John worked hard to confess that he was not the Christ, there is still a small remnant of people who hold to John the Baptist as the Messiah to this day. You can learn about some of this in the book of Acts, where a couple of men who were baptized into John’s baptism but had not understood John’s preaching to trust in the one who was to come after him, Jesus.
John was bold and confident. And could be based on God’s Word. John trusted the promises of God, he himself being the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 40, and also the promise that he would have the spirit and power of Elijah. He certainly has the voice and appearance down, wearing rough camel-hair clothing and eating locusts and honey. And he desires you to trust boldly in the promises that God has made. May we be so bold as to hold to every word that comes from the Lord.
Good news would come from the one upon whom the Spirit of God would descend and remain. You have John’s own testimony, a few verses later, confirming that when Jesus came to be baptized, numbering himself with the transgressors, that He saw the Spirit of God descend upon him and remain.You have Jesus’ own words in Luke 4 saying that this prophecy was being fulfilled as the people gathered in the synagogue heard Jesus speak to them. Yet, they acted like the Pharisees and would not believe His Words. And then you have Jesus’ own work healing the sick, the lame, and forgiving their sins, too. What do you do you see and what do you hear? The Lord’s favor was coming and has come in Jesus! Rejoice!
He has come to bring you good news, but he brings the word of restoration. He came to rebuild and restore, to reconcile and bring peace. Isaiah 61 looks forward to the time when the exiles will be brought home. Jerusalem would be destroyed, burned to the ground; it would be devastated. In the return from exile, the Jews would rebuild, yes, but it would be a shell of its former glory. The real temple would come when Jesus came and dwelt in their midst, just as he did, and the temple of his body would be destroyed, but in three days it would be raised back up. God would dwell with humanity forevermore. That God and man are reconciled to one another by the One John proclaimed would come.
John was not trying to fool the Pharisees, the Jews, or anyone else. He was pretty upfront with them. Search the Scriptures, test His words against them, see that John is there fulfilling the purpose he was sent to perform. He is pointing to Christ, not to himself. Don’t worry too much about knowing John is, but rather worry about knowing Christ!
John rightly testifies of Jesus being the bridegroom, and He bears the gifts of the bridegroom for his bride. “Rejoice and be glad for your Bridegroom has come!” says John. And He comes with his robe of righteousness for you! These are your words and John’s words to say, “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God!” Why? For He comes bearing my salvation. He comes to set me free. As the beautiful hymn Wake Awake For Night is Flying says in the 2nd stanza, “Zion hears the watchmen singing, And all her heart with joy is springing; She wakes and rises from her gloom.” Rejoice!
You heard John’s forthright preaching. How He calls you to account for your sins, especially the ones that are stuck to the bottom of the pot that is your heart, but once He has scraped them and agitated your hearts, John also points you to the remedy of all your sins. Your bridegroom, Jesus. He comes to you, cleansing you from your sins. We look to the font, the place where water and word washed over us, where Christ calls us His own. We look to the white garment given to us then, reminding us of the pure robe of righteousness that Christ has put on us. And we can continually remember our baptisms throughout all our days, coming to Christ, confessing our sins daily, repenting of them, and trusting His promise to forgive our sins. That is the baptismal life in a nutshell. Continually recognizing our failings to keep God’s laws and to be in alignment with them, and receiving from God mercy and forgiveness, and trying again. Our life is one of repentance. Our robes don’t always look white and pristine. Most time they are as black as coal. But rejoice! Yes, rejoice for Christ comes to cleanse you to raise you up, and bind up your broken hearts, and repeat to you the blessed Good News that He has come and He has come to save you.
And He comes bearing you every good gift. He comes to give you Himself, His own body and blood that is the new covenant, the everlasting covenant. Rejoice! Know and believe the good news that the Lord Jesus has come to save you from sin and death. You who have been sinned against by your loved ones, who have been put down, those of you ashamed of your sins that have come to light, and those that could come to light. Know you have been set free by the Bridegroom who willingly laid down his life for his bride and cleansed her with his own blood. He paid the dowry to take you as His bride with his own blood. You are far more precious to Him than any silver or gold, so he pays with his body and blood. And now he comes to you, giving to you that same body and blood to strengthen your faith in these dreary days, that you might cling ever so more tightly to His promise of His coming again. Eat and Drink believing His Words, receive His peace and comfort that comes with knowing that He comes to you that you might be rescued from the clutches of Satan.
The promise will never be broken. Just like the prophecies that He would come, so He comes known to you in His Word and Sacraments. As John the Baptist says, “Behold Him, Yes here. For Christ is in your midst now. Rejoice, O Bride of Christ, for your fortunes have been restored, and He has come and done glorious things in your midst. He has come to save you.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Encore Post: Each Gospel identifies Andrew as the brother of St. Peter. I am the older brother, and I know my younger brother did not appreciate everyone knowing him through me. Many of his high school teachers knew him as “Jake’s brother.” Needless to say, he didn’t take it that well. He wanted to be known on his own terms. Sometimes I imagine Andrew felt the same way.
If you read the synoptic Gospels, you don’t hear Andrew’s name called all too often. He is simply Peter’s brother. But then you get to John’s Gospel. And John, being the one who also beat Peter to the tomb on the day of our Lord’s resurrection, may have this story to remind us all that Peter even needed to be brought to Jesus. Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist, and it was Andrew who introduced Peter to Jesus. It was Andrew to whom our Lord first spoke, “Come and see” where the Lord was staying for the night. Perhaps we should start at the beginning. A pattern has already been established. God the Father desires all people to know Him by His Word.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and He is your only light. Andrew heard the preaching of his teacher, John. And by John’s teaching, Andrew was made prepared for the Word to come in the flesh. And when John proclaimed, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” That had to make Andrew curious enough to follow after Jesus. “What are you seeking?” “Rabbi (which means teacher), where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So, they came and saw where He was staying, and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.
What a visit that had to be! Andrew and Philip were there together with Jesus. And the pattern is underway. God the Father sent forth the Word, and the Word was proclaimed by the prophets, and ultimately the final prophet in the wilderness, John the Baptist. John proclaimed the message into the ears of Andrew, who saw Jesus and followed Him. And it gets better. Andrew, having heard the Word of Jesus from Jesus Himself, finds his brother the next day. “We have found the Messiah!” And He brought Peter to Jesus, so that Peter might hear Jesus too and believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God, the One who has Words of eternal life.
The Lord wishes all to know Him by the proclamation of His Word. That is how the Lord has ordained it, even today, with the Office of the Holy Ministry. Faith is obtained via the Ministry of Teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments. Andrew is remembered on the 30th of November, the first saint’s day in the new church year. He was not the most sought-after apostle. He is better known as the brother of St. Peter. He was not one of the inner 3 (Peter, James, and John). But even St. Peter needed someone to first proclaim the Gospel to him — that the promised Messiah of God had arrived in the flesh.
Andrew is like you. Indeed, an apostle, but one who is often forgotten in our circles. There are very few St. Andrew Lutheran Churches. You are not famous, but you are called by the Lord, known by name in the waters of Holy Baptism. You have been made Christ’s own there, redeemed from sin and death, prepared for the day of your death or for the coming of Christ in all of His glory, by the hearing and heeding of Christ’s Word and reception of His Sacraments. Like Andrew, you can point others to Jesus, the long-awaited Messiah, just like Andrew did for Peter.
While Andrew may not be known for anything other than being Peter’s brother and probably was tired of such a distinction, I am sure Peter is still thankful that Andrew was more than happy to pass along the good news that Christ had finally arrived, just as the Lord promised He would.
[Forty-Third in a series of posts on Bible Stories] In the years and generations following the initial return from exile, Jerusalem was still a shell of its former self. The city had few inhabitants. The evidence of Jerusalem’s destruction was everywhere. Jerusalem was still a dump of rubble. To make it worse, the city had no continuous wall around it.
Nehemiah was a descendant of the tribe of Judah, who still lived in Susa and worked for the Persians some generations after Cyrus decreed the Jews could return to Jerusalem. In the twentieth year of Artaxerxes’ reign, Nehemiah received his brother Hanani, along with other men who had returned from Judah.
Their message was stark: “Those who went back are in trouble and great shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.” That news cut Nehemiah to the heart, and he broke down into prayer. Nehemiah took on the role of mediator. Like Moses many centuries before him, and Daniel of more recent memory, Nehemiah confessed the sins of the people of Israel to God. He acknowledges how horrible Israel had acted against God and asks Him for mercy (Nehemiah 1:7-11). After his prayer, Nehemiah writes, “Now I was cupbearer to the king.”
Serving as cupbearer gives Nehemiah unrivalled access to King Artaxerxes. The king could see Nehemiah’s feelings on his face. Nehemiah requested permission to inspect Jerusalem. He wanted to rebuild it. Similar to Cyrus, Artaxerxes not only allows him but also sends him with proper letters and orders to cut wood for the gates of the temple and the walls. In fact, Nehemiah became the governor of the region.
However, life was not easy for Nehemiah. He faced opposition from Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite from the very beginning. These men desired to see Jerusalem continually in a state of disrepair. However, Nehemiah trusted the Lord was with him in the work he desired to accomplish. Nehemiah says it this way: “The good hand of my God was upon me.” Under Nehemiah, the wall was rebuilt, but it was not easy. They faced opposition the entire time. In the fourth chapter of his book, Nehemiah describes how the workers carried a sword on their side and took shifts, working or holding spears in case of an attack.
Nehemiah’s book is not simply about the wall, though; Nehemiah also discusses the efforts he made to care for the poor in Jerusalem. The nobles were committing the same sins as their fathers, or worse. The poor were being sold as slaves. Nehemiah put an end to that. He did not exact the food allowance usually granted to a governor.
The book ends with Nehemiah’s last reforms, one of which probably sounds harsh to our modern ears: the Jews divorcing foreign wives. However, from a theological perspective, we might be able to understand this. Nehemiah feared the people might fall into the idolatrous past of their ancestors. This concern seems valid as the priesthood had become corrupted, for one priest was the son-in-law of Nehemiah’s opponent, Sanballat the Horonite.
Now you might wonder what is “Christian” about Nehemiah? There is plenty. We can and should see Nehemiah as a Christ-figure. He is zealous for Jerusalem. He wants the city to be secure. He also faced great opposition. He even faced false witnesses who said that Nehemiah had set himself up as king. Nehemiah was not a king, though he was from the tribe of Judah. He was also a very devout follower of the LORD. Nehemiah helped Jerusalem celebrate the Feast of Booths, and Nehemiah 9 is one of the most thorough “creeds” found in the Old Testament.
Finally, the wall itself needed to be built so that Jesus could die outside its gates. One of the charges against Jesus was that he was a rebellious son. Deuteronomy 21 tells what should happen to a rebellious son: he should be brought to the elders at the gate, and there they shall stone him. While Jesus was not stoned, he was hung on a tree. That tree was outside the gates of Jerusalem.
[Fortieth in a series of posts on Bible Stories; First in a series of posts on Zechariah] The prophet Zechariah may not be as well-known as Isaiah or Jeremiah, but the authors of the Gospels in the New Testament frequently allude to Zechariah. In fact, scholars argue that Zechariah, after Psalms and Isaiah, is the next most alluded to book of the Old Testament.
Zechariah’s ministry is a full-throated proclamation of the coming Messiah, though you might not catch all the images that Zechariah draws upon to speak of Him and His coming. Let’s start at the beginning and work through the book and acknowledge some of the images that proclaim the work of Jesus.
The very name Zechariah bears great meaning: YHWH (The LORD) Remembers. Zechariah begins his book by telling us when the Word of the LORD came to him. It was in the days of King Darius, following Cyrus’s call for the Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple (Ezra 1:2, 2 Chronicles 36:22-23). Ezra tells us that Joshua, the High Priest, and Zerubbabel, the appointed governor (and descendant of David), oversaw the rebuilding of the altar (Ezra 3). Yet, it appears that at the time of Zechariah’s ministry, the temple rebuilding was not yet complete.
The Lord God called two men to serve as His mouthpieces during those days: Haggai and Zechariah. They both speak about the rebuilding of the Temple. Zechariah’s book begins with the people acknowledging they were falling into the same temptations and sins of their fathers. Zechariah recalls the very words of 2 Kings 17:13 and exhorts the remnant to differ from their fathers and believe the Word being spoken in their hearing.
Zechariah served the Lord when much of the Old Testament was already written, meaning he had many of the books (save for Malachi, who follows his ministry) at his disposal. I will do my best to highlight when Zechariah alludes to or quotes other passages of the Old Testament. I will also mention when the NT authors dive into Zechariah.
[Thirty-Eighth in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: We actually know a good bit about Ezekiel because he tells us as much about himself. He was the son of a priest in Jerusalem. Having that connection, he probably had great knowledge about the temple. He was married and lived in Tel-Abib near the Chebar canal, where he had his own house. He paid attention to the words of the Lord, that the exile was not going to be a short venture.
Judah was facing her worst defeat ever. People were being ripped from their homes and sent into exile. And we know why this was happening. God let it happen because of their manifest sin against him, particularly running after other gods.
This was Ezekiel’s message: Judah was ripe for the Lord’s judgment. One vision that he saw was that of the Lord’s Spirit leaving the temple. This may or may not have happened in “real life,” but what is clear in the vision is that the gracious presence of the Lord was leaving the people of Jerusalem. The people would recognize that a prophet was among them. And this came to be known as Ezekiel’s prophecies came true. The exiled community recognized their sin and need for forgiveness.
And the Lord, through Ezekiel, showed mercy to the people. Ezekiel’s vision of the Glory of the Lord at the beginning of the book shows a throne with wheels within wheels, implying that the Lord is mobile. While the gracious presence of the Lord was not seen by Judah for a time, it did not mean that the Lord was far from them. The Law was doing its work, bringing them to repentance, making them ready for the Gospel.
What we see in Ezekiel is the promised hope found in Jesus, the Good Shepherd who would come and seek the lost. He would bind up the injured and strengthen the weak. He would be the one to feed the sheep on good pasture.
Ezekiel, a prophet of the exile, gave comfort and hope to those people who had little hope. Through Ezekiel, the Lord promised comfort and future peace, peace that would come to full fruition in the God-Man, Jesus Christ.
[Thirty-Sixth in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: Before King Josiah, there was another king who followed the commandments of the Lord. His name was Hezekiah. His story is covered in 2 Kings 18-20. There, the author of Kings tells us that Hezekiah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, cutting down the Asherah poles. He recognized the idolatry that ran rampant among the people. Judah was actually bowing down before the bronze serpent that Moses made in the wilderness! Hezekiah broke it into pieces. He was zealous for proper worship of the Lord.
The Rabshakeh, who was a spokesman for the king of Assyria, spoke to Hezekiah, telling him that no god had saved the other surrounding countries. So, would Hezekiah’s God save Judah? The king of Assyria, Sennacherib, speaks of himself as a god, able to give a land that is good, as if not better than what God had promised to the people of Israel way back in his promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and again to the people as they were coming into the Promised Land.
Hezekiah, though afraid of the impending doom for Jerusalem, does what a faithful Christian ought to do in times of distress. He spoke with the Lord’s servant Isaiah and inquired of the Lord in prayer. God has been mocked in Sennacherib’s speech, and Hezekiah pleads that God hear it. He does and gives peace to Hezekiah, promising that Sennachrib will die by the sword in his own land.
We learn from Hezekiah to rely on God alone, both in times of distress and in times of plenty. Isaiah the prophet and this story of Jerusalem being under siege tells us to rely on God, who gives us our daily bread. For he also gives us the blessed forgiveness of sins in the saving work of Jesus on the cross, who took upon the siege of the devil at the cross and won for us the true promised land, the promise of the new heaven and new earth that is to come.
[Thirty-Fourth in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: On the 6th of July, the church commemorates the prophet Isaiah. If you have never read the front part of the hymnal, I highly recommend it. The Church sees the good in remembering the saints.
Isaiah ministered to God’s people during an era of great turmoil. Reading his book, you see that he was called to serve as the Lord’s prophet the year King Uzziah died, and he continued to serve as a prophet throughout the reign of Hezekiah. During this period, there was a lot of political turmoil, and the book speaks about some of these situations in detail. But the promise of the Lord saving his people and gathering them together on His Holy Mountain is in the background.
Isaiah did what every other prophet did: spoke the word of the Lord to the people, even the kings of his day. He preached the Law of God, proclaiming that judgment was coming on Judah and the northern kingdom in the form of the Assyrians, and later the Babylonians. He preached repentance to them. But Isaiah also offers much gospel and forgiveness from the Lord. We only need to look to Isaiah 40. But even before that we see throughout his book that he preaches Law and Gospel.
In the three-year lectionary of the Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod, we find that Isaiah’s book is used on a whopping 77 Sundays. That is over 50% of the Old Testament lessons, considering the Easter season, when OT lessons are replaced with readings from Acts.
Perhaps we should ask why Isaiah is so prominent in the lectionary. Maybe it is because Isaiah preaches Christ’s kingdom in a way that the Gospels preach it. Some even called Isaiah “the fifth Gospel” because Christ and His work come through so clearly. Even the name “Isaiah” conveys Christ. His name means “YHWH’s Salvation”. And it is no surprise that two of Isaiah’s favorite words to use in the book are the verb “he shall save” and the noun “salvation”.
Isaiah’s prophecies of Christ are quite clear, and perhaps that is why we like him so much. Isaiah is also quoted several times by the Gospels, and Isaiah 52 and 53 are highlighted in Acts as the text that converted the Ethiopian Eunuch.
So we in the Church give thanks to the work that the Lord did through His prophet Isaiah, as we remember and commemorate Isaiah today.
[Thirty-Second in a series of posts on Bible Stories] Encore Post: Jesus, when he asked the disciples who the Son of Man was, got some interesting answers. His disciples gave him the answers, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
The book that bears Jeremiah’s name and the next book in our Bible, Lamentations, speaks a lot about suffering. But this is not the only thing, nor is it the last word. There is hope; there is the Gospel. Jeremiah is given some of the sweetest words of the Gospel that we have recorded in Scripture. The mourning of the believer will be turned to song. The Lord’s love is never-ending. Great is His faithfulness. In Christ, the true Son of Man, the one who suffered even worse than the weeping prophet, Jeremiah, has set us free from sin and death by his own death and resurrection.
So yes, Jeremiah should have been in the conversation of the Son of Man because He is a type and figure of the very Son of Man, Jesus, who suffered and died and rose to win salvation and everlasting life for us, poor, miserable sinners.
