Life of Jesus – Page 3 – What Does This Mean?

To you is Born the Savior — the Lord Christ

Encore Post: Shepherds were hard-working everyday people. To some extent, they even looked down on a bit. If you were a king, you wouldn’t send a herald to them. And yet, that was exactly what God did. He sent his Angel — his messenger, — with an εὐαγγέλιον (evangelion — Gospel) to — of all people — shepherds.

Royal proclamations of Good News announced the victory over enemies, the birth of a royal heir, the beginning of the reign of a new king. Often the messenger is also a Legatus — an ambassador — with the authority of the ruler to set forth a big celebration. He could free captives, cancel debts, suspend taxes, sponsor games and the like. This Gospel is unlike any other. “Good news of great joy for all the people,” the angel announced the birth of God’s own son in David’s hometown of Bethlehem. He is the Lord Christ — who would save his people from their sins.

The Christmas gospel is very good news indeed. God the Father, our Savior, reveals his kindness and love of people in it. He sent Jesus, our Savior, to save us because of his mercy, not because of the good deeds we have done. Jesus poured out the Holy Spirit, our Savior, on us, who washed away our sins in Holy Baptism and regenerated our hearts. We are justified by the grace of the Holy Trinity, so that we may be made heirs of eternal life, being justified by his grace.

So, great joy comes to us at Christmas. Not only the song of a legion of angels, eager shepherds to rush to see the Savior and the mother who treasured it all in her heart. God has broken into our world and changed things forever. We have an inexpressible joy, for we know God keeps his promises. And so it is our hope is certain. Many blessings are awaiting us in Heaven, where Jesus is preparing a place for us. We have seen a great light and nothing can ever take that from us.

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

Silent Night, Holy Night

Encore Post: On Christmas Eve of 1818, two hundred and eleven years ago today, Joseph Mohr, the catholic priest of a small parish in Oberndorf, Austria, learned that the organ was out of order and not available for mass that evening. A few years earlier, he had composed a poem meditating on the birth of Jesus. The times were very hard for his parishioners. Austria and all of Europe was still recovering from the wars of Napoleon, which was followed by a famine caused by a very cold year and the crop failures that followed. He did not want to disappoint them. He asked his organist and friend, Franz Gruber, to set it to music for the guitar.

The quiet tune and simple words struck a chord in the hearts of people. Traveling choir troupes soon picked up the song and spread it. The beloved carol has found a place now in Christmas worldwide. During the dark days of World War I, during a spontaneous Christmas truce, both sides joined in singing the carol together.

Like most poetry, the song takes some poetic liberties. Jesus probably did not have golden hair, as the German original sings. A stable is not likely to have been very quiet and Scripture does not tell us what time of day Mary gave birth. Yet it does capture, as most carols do, the simple truths. In a rural, working town, in the far corner of a client kingdom of the Roman Empire, is where God Himself became a man, born of simple, young woman.

Jesus Christ, the eternally begotten Son of God, and by the greatest mystery of them all, true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is our Lord. He redeemed us, not with silver or gold, but with his holy and precious blood and innocent suffering and death. We now are his own and live in his kingdom. When God sees us, he sees Jesus. When we see Jesus, we see God.

So we sing this Christmas lullaby and go to sleep in peace, even in the midst of our turbulent world, filled as it is with sorrow, trouble, grief and death. Sleep in peace, children of God. Rest merry. Christ was born to save us all from Satan’s power when we had gone astray. He has destroyed death and crushed the serpent’s head. You will live with him forever.

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

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Sunday School: Forty Days with Jesus

Encore Post: After Jesus rose from the dead, he appeared to his disciples several times over forty days. Like the forty days and forty nights of the flood, the forty years of wandering of Israel in the wilderness and the forty days of testing prior to his ministry, these forty days were for preparation. Jesus was preparing them to live without his physical presence.

At first, they would not recognize him. But one thing or another — his greeting of peace, his calling of their name, the miracle of a great catch of fish and the breaking of bread — revealed him immediately to them. Jesus, at first, reassured them it was really him. He had really risen from the dead, not only in spirit, but in his body as well. He ate with them bread and fish. He still had the wounds of the crucifixion — the holes in his hands and the place where the spear was thrust into his side. The very same Jesus stood before him in his flesh — only now transformed into a body that would never again die.

He also took the time to teach them more. Most of what he did was conduct a Bible study, showing them every place in the Old Testament that predicted his life, suffering, death and resurrection. He also showed them how the whole Bible speaks about him.

He also gave them a mission — to baptize, to teach and to forgive sins. They would do this everywhere in the world. All the while, Jesus promised to be with them until the end of time itself.

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

Sunday School: Jesus the Good Shepherd

Encore Post: In the Middle East, shepherds often build a common sheep pen for their town. All the shepherds in the village would keep their sheep together in this pen overnight. They would build a wall to keep the sheep from wandering away and to keep wolves and other predators from attacking them. A watchman would guard the gate or door to the pen so that only shepherds could enter. This discouraged thieves.

When a shepherd was ready to feed his sheep, he would go into the pen and call them by name. A shepherd had an intimate relationship with his sheep. In some cases, they would be as close to them as a pet is to us. So the sheep recognized the voice of the man who cared for them. When he called them by name, they would follow. The shepherd would take them to good, green pastures and nice, quiet waters. He would keep them from wandering off and would treat any wounds, binding them up. He would protect them from wild animals, often doing battle with them, as King David describes what he did as a young shepherd. True shepherds would risk their lives to save their sheep.

Kings often compared themselves to shepherds. They liked to be seen as caring for them and keeping them safe. They expected their subjects to willingly follow everywhere they wanted them to go.

In the Bible, God tells us He is our Shepherd. He will feed them, gather their lambs in his arms and hold them close to his heart. (Isaiah 40:11) Most of all, in Jesus, God is our Good Shepherd. He leads us with his word, guides us and protects us from evil. Like a good shepherd, he laid down his life for the sheep. He died so that we might be saved. On the last day of our life, he will lead us through the valley of the shadow of death safely home to dwell in his house forever. (Psalm 23)

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

Sunday School: Jesus Loves the Little Children

Encore Post: In the ancient world, most children died before their 18th birthday. In fact, childhood death was common until the twentieth century. Every couple could expect to bury at least one child during their lifetime. That is why the childhood prayer was taught to generations of young people: “Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. If I should live another day, I pray the Lord to guide my way.”

Children and young people, therefore, were kept at an emotional distance and paid little attention. Besides, children were disruptive, especially when a rabbi was trying to teach. They do not understand abstract thought and so would look for other ways to entertain themselves and get attention. They were expected to behave, to be just like the adults with them. So, they were pushed aside so that adults could get on with “important” business. Keep them out of sight and out of mind.

Jesus made two points by bringing a child before them. First, all people are important to God, no matter how small. He loves them, cares for them. In fact, Jesus came to die for them, too. They are not the future of the church — they are the church.

Second, children trust adults to take care of them, live humbly, and assume their love. In fact, they are better Christians than adults! To be Christians, after all, means to trust God to take care of us, to deny ourselves, knowing we are cared for and dedicate our lives to the service of others. This comes naturally to them. They are not bothered when they cannot understand something adults or God tell them. They accept the truth, rely on it and build on it because they trust their parents, their teachers and God. They may not know something, but they know someone. So, ironically, if we want to grow in faith, we need to become like them and trust the God who made us, loves us, died for us, cares for us and will bring us home one day to be with him forever.

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

Sunday School: Parables

Encore Post: A parable is a story told about very ordinary things and events, but that has a hidden spiritual meaning. Jesus loved to teach by parable. About 35% of His teaching uses them. Jesus used parables to help us understand God, His people, people in the world, and the things God wants us to do. The stories themselves are very easy to understand. Sometimes the meaning is not so clear. In fact, Jesus once said He told parables so that some people would not understand at all. Thankfully, Jesus almost always tells His disciples what the story means.

Most parables make just one point. All the details in these stories are there to make that one point. So, for example, the three parables of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin and the Lost Son (Prodigal Son) (Luke 15) are about the joy God wants us to feel when He saves someone and not so much about the grace of Jesus who seeks and saves the lost.

Allegories are parables where each character or thing in the story has an independent meaning. These allow for many interpretations. When Jesus wants us to draw more than one point from a parable, He tells us when He explains the story. He tells us what each item in the story stands for. This he does with the Parable of the Four Soils (The Parable of the Sower) (Luke 8:4-15).

Strictly speaking, simple metaphors are not parables, but proverbs or illustrations. Parables are stories. So sayings such as the City on a Hill, the Light of the World and simply metaphors. Sometimes it is difficult to tell whether Jesus is telling a parable or simply speaking about something that actually happened. The Good Samaritan is one of these stories. (Luke 10:25-37)

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

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Sunday School: Jairus and His Daughter

Encore Post: Jairus loved his daughter very much. As the leader of the local synagogue, he was a respected man. When he bowed down before Jesus, he sacrificed much of his dignity. What made his daughter’s illness especially painful was that she was twelve years old. At the time of Jesus, a child became an adult in the eyes of the community in their twelfth year. Plans for her marriage were likely under way. She would have been seen as a survivor, since many children died before their twelfth year.

The woman who interrupted Jesus’ trip to see Jairus’ daughter had also been ill for the same twelve years. Her illness was also very disruptive, since it meant that she could not go to the temple nor to worship in the synagogue while she had this constant period of hers. Nothing any of the doctors could do for her helped her. Jesus was her last hope. And his healing made all the difference in the world for her.

When Jesus was delayed as he went to Jairus’ house, his daughter died. Jesus told Jairus to trust Him and not be afraid. No one knew what Jesus would do, just that He cared about the sick. When Jesus raised her from death, everyone was amazed.

The healing miracles of Jesus show us several things. They demonstrate he is God himself and that God has compassion for the sick and suffering. In fact, Jesus shared our sufferings and took them to the cross. There he died for the sins of the world and bore the sufferings that came because of it. His resurrection is the promise of the ultimate healing of all our sickness, sorrow, grief, and death. At his second coming, he will bring an end to it once and for all when he dries every tear from our eyes.

Jesus wants us to have compassion for the sick, too. He tells us to love them, to pray for them and to take care of them. He continues to show mercy to people who suffer through our care. In these ways, we show people that God loves them, too.

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

Sunday School: Jesus Calls His Disciples

Encore Post: Rabbis in Jesus’ day often had students — disciples — who followed them, observed everything they did, memorized every word they taught and imitated their actions. Most of the time, the students chose their teachers. Jesus turns that around when He chose his own disciples. Disciples often became rabbis themselves. When Jesus told them Peter, James and John they would “catch people,” his disciples would assume they were to train for that very occupation.

It is easy to think that Jesus just walked up the disciples with no notice and ordered them to follow him, and they did. But this is likely not the case with any of them. Simon, Andrew, James, and John already knew Jesus when he called them. Jesus had made Capernaum, the headquarters of their fishing business, his hometown. Before this event, Jesus had taught in their synagogue, healed Peter’s mother-in-law, cast out demons, healed a paralytic, the Roman centurion’s daughter and many others. His brother Andrew and others were disciples of John the Baptist, who identified Jesus as the Lamb of God. Matthew was the toll collector at Capernaum before Jesus called him, but likely heard a lot about him.

Jesus would select twelve disciples to be his closest students. The number twelve reminded Jews of the twelve tribes of Israel. By doing this, he signaled he was re-establishing God’s chosen people. These twelve would eventually be commissioned as his apostles, on whom Jesus would build his church. These would become witnesses to his resurrection and take the gospel to the ends of the Roman world. All but two would die as martyrs — Judas, who betrayed him and John, who lived a long life and whose own disciples would pass the faith on to new generations.

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

Sunday School: The Temptation of Jesus

Encore Post: Just after Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit sent Jesus into the desert alone for forty days to fast and pray prior to beginning to minister. The number forty was important to the Jewish people. Their ancestors wandered in the desert for forty years. Moses and Elijah fasted for forty days in the desert. God kept Noah and his family safe in the ark for forty days. For them, the number forty stood for a period of testing.

For us, the temptation of Jesus is wonderful. He could have blown Satan away. But He chose to face temptation in a way that we can face temptation. He quoted the will of God from the Scriptures. In God’s Word is the power to overcome the Devil — and the world and our flesh, too. The Scripture calls on us to pray to a Lord who was tempted in every way the way we are, except that He did not sin. Because He faced temptation as a human, we know He understands us and is ready to help.

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

Sunday School: Baptism of Jesus

Encore Post: On the First Sunday after Epiphany, the Church celebrates the day that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River.(Matthew 3:13-17) The baptism that John performed was for the forgiveness of sins, so it puzzled John. Why would the sinless Son of God need to be baptized? Jesus told him it was “fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” (Matthew 3:15) Like the scapegoat and the Passover Lamb of the Old Testament, John called him “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. “(John 1:29)

So, when we go into the waters of Holy Baptism, Jesus washes away our sins (Ephesians 5:26-27) These sins he took upon himself at his baptism and carried them to the cross. When he died, we died to our old life. When he rose, we rose with him to new life. Our sins were forgiven and we need sin no more. (Romans 6:3-11)

When Jesus came out of the water, God the Father spoke from heaven and said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17) The Holy Spirit also appeared in the form of a dove that landed on Jesus. An appearance of God in this world is called a theophany. At the Baptism of Jesus, all three persons on the Trinity appear in our world. In the readings for the Church Year, the season of Epiphany begins with this theophany and concludes by celebrating another — the Transfiguration.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Pastor Emeritus

Fort Wayne, Indiana

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