Christology – Page 6 – What Does This Mean?

Elijah’s Mantle on Elisha Cast

Encore Post: Elijah knew his ministry was nearing the end. At Mount Sinai he complained to God that all his ministry, including fire called from heaven, was useless. He believed he was alone. God showed his prophet his glory in wind, earthquake and fire. As Moses did in the same place, Elijah hid his eyes from the glory of God — this time with his cloak, the symbol of his call as a prophet. Yet even after seeing the glory of God, Elijah was unmoved. So, in a quiet voice, God told his faithful prophet he was far from alone. To Elijah he gave a final commission: to appoint his successors.

God sent Elijah to call Elisha to be his successor. Their names sound very close in English, but are very different in Hebrew. Elijah means, “Yahweh is God.” Elisha means, “God saves.” Elisha’s name is very close to Joshua’s name. Joshua means, “Yahweh saves.” Elijah threw his cloak over Elisha, who did not miss the meaning of that gesture.

When it was time for Elijah to go, he and Elisha went to Gilgal. There the people of Israel had first camped when they came into the promised land, were circumcised as God’s people, celebrated the Passover, saw the end of the coming of Mana and the departure of the pillar of fire by night and cloud by day. There the Angel of the Lord commissioned Joshua. Then they went to Bethel, where Jacob had dreamed of the angels coming and going from heaven. Finally, they went to Jericho, where Joshua struck the first blow against the gods of Canaan.

When the two prophets arrived at the Jordan River, Elijah rolled up the cloak into a staff like Moses’s. He struck the River and it parted — just as it did in the same place for Joshua. Like Moses, Elijah would depart this world from just outside the promised land. As the chariot of fire carried Elijah into heaven in a whirlwind, Elisha caught his cloak. The new prophet struck the Jordan with it and it parted. God had made Elisha the heir of Elijah’s ministry.

Nearly two thousand years later, Moses and Elijah met with Jesus as those the Messiah would send watched. The new Joshua (Jesus’ name is the Greek form of Joshua’s name) would suffer, die and rise again to defeat sin, death and the power of the devil. Rising from the dead, he breathed the Holy Spirit on his appointed prophets. From generation to generation, one generation’s prophets have laid their hands upon those who would take up their stoles after them. God of the prophets, bless the prophets’ sons, Elijah’s mantle on Elisha cast. Make each one nobler, stronger than the last.

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Concordia Theological Seminary
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Forgiveness of Sins, Life and Salvation

Encore Post: The Lord’s Supper is a great gift to us. With bread and wine, Jesus gives us his Body and Blood to eat and to drink. This gift would be precious even if that was all there was to it. But God gives us much more in this Sacrament. He meets our greatest need — to be forgiven of our sins.

The greatest disaster that comes from Adam and Eve’s disobedience is that it separated them — and us — from God. Cut off from the source of life itself, it brought death to all of us. By giving his body on the cross and shedding his blood there, he paid the price for sin, earning us the forgiveness of sins and reconciling us with God. With the reason for our eternal death removed, the seal of the grave is broken. We are saved and will live with him eternally.

In Baptism, God applies these benefits to us. Yet our sinful nature remains in us. “The old Adam is a good swimmer,” the old quip goes. (no, Martin Luther likely did not say it!) Constantly harassed by the world and its temptations, the sweet lies of Satan and the lure of our passions, we sin often. The Lord’s Supper forgives our sins and assures us of God’s love for us. It is communion with Jesus in the most intimate way. It is as the ancient liturgy for anointing the sick, “bread for the journey.”

So, we receive this precious gift often. After all, Jesus is really present there. And where he is, there we also want to be.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

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The Lord’s Supper is Christ’s Supper

Encore Post: The Lord’ Supper is really very simple. At his last Passover meal, Jesus took bread, broke it, gave it to his disciples and said, “This is my body” and took a cup of wine and said “This is my blood.” When we eat this bread, we also eat his body and when we drink this wine, we drink his blood. From the day the Lord instituted this sacrament until the Reformation, all Christians believed these words do what they say. They also realized this was a mystery that human reason cannot possibly begin to understand.

Because we cannot understand how this can be true, the Reformed and Evangelical traditions believe that Jesus did not mean these words literally, but that the sacrament is a meaningful symbol that reminds us of the death of Jesus on the cross for the forgiveness of sins. They argue that a human body can only be in one place at a time. Since Jesus is now in Heaven, the literal body and blood of Jesus cannot be in the elements of Holy Communion. This way of interpreting the words of Jesus, however, relies not on Holy Scripture, but on our capability of making sense of them.

The problem with this approach is it causes all kinds of other difficulties. Human wisdom is limited because we are creatures and God is our creator and because we are sinful and God is holy. We can never know for sure that we are right when we depend upon our reason. So, Lutherans are content to use our reason to understand what God’s word says and then believe it, even when we cannot put it all together. We let the Bible be the master of our minds and not our minds the master of the Bible. (theologians call these approaches the ministerial and magisterial uses of reason) When we start to alter the meaning of Scripture based on reason, we end up with all kinds of unintended problems. For example, if Christ’s resurrected body can be in only one place at a time, Heaven, then how can he be as he promised “with us always until the end of time.” (my paraphrase of Matthew 28:20)

Since all of the passages which report the institution of the Lord’s Supper are simple reports of the historical events and none of them have poetry, teaching or preaching in them, we take them at face value. They mean exactly what they say. When Jesus says “this is my body” and “this is my blood,” we believe that is exactly what the Lord’s Supper is: Bread together with the body of Christ and Wine together with the blood of Christ. We wonder at the mystery of it all and thank God for the gift of his own flesh and blood to us, uniting us to him now and forever.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

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Church Word #12: Omnipresent

Encore Post: In most non-Christian religions, God is seen as very far away. He is the High God, who made the world and left it to others to cope as best they can. Even in popular American culture, we think of God as tucked away, up in Heaven. Our songs tell us “God is watching us… from a distance,” “And the three men I admire most The Father, Son and the Holy Ghost They caught the last train for the coast…” Ever since Adam and Eve fell into sin, people have imagined they could hide from God. (Genesis 3:8)

All these concepts are mistaken. God is omnipresent — he is everywhere. God is not far away, he is very near. He fills the heavens and the earth. (Jeremiah 23:23-24) No one can hide from him. (Ps 139:6–12) No one can escape his judgement or is beyond his care.

Yet he is not a part of his creation, as the Hindus, Buddhists and others believe. For them, we are god, we just do not know it yet. God is a separate, distinct being. God is not a man (Numbers 23:19), either as these Eastern religions teach or as one of many physical being that grew into Gods, as the Mormons believe. He is busy endlessly maintaining his creation, supporting it with his power, directing the course of events, working through his word and his church to seek and to save the lost, and making new creatures — including each and every new human life.

But that is not the end of the ways God is present. In the Son of God, God became one of us. Jesus is in every way human, except without sin. He is Emmanuel — God with us. He live a perfect life for us, suffered and died for us, rose and ascended to Heaven for us. And yet he has in a mysterious way not gone away at all. He is “by our side upon the plain (the field of battle) with his good gifts and spirit.” When we gather for worship, even two or three of us, he is there among us.

And yet, Christ is even more present in a way so personal we cannot begin to understand it. In the Lord’s Supper, he is really present, in the flesh and blood sacrificed for us. This body he gives with bread for us to eat and this blood he gives with wine for us to drink. In this way, he is with us so that we cannot miss him. So, God’s omnipresence is a very good thing for us. It means we are never alone, from the day we are conceived to the day we enter his eternal presence and finally see his face.

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Who is the the Lord’s Supper for?

Encore Post: Baptism is for everyone — every person of any place, color, class, race, country or age. God wants to save everyone. The Lord’s Supper, however, is for Christians only. (1 Corinthians 10:14-22) St. Paul tells us that sometimes even Christians should not receive this sacrament. (1 Corinthians 11:27-32) So… who is the supper for?

Sincere Christians have often worried much over whether they are worthy to receive the Lord’s Body and Blood. Did they sin too much? Did they forget to apologize for something or to forgive someone? Should they go to the altar or not?

Martin Luther takes this up in his Catechisms (Small Catechism 6.5, Large Catechism 7.75) “he is truly worthy and well prepared who has faith in these words: Given, and shed for you, for the remission of sins. But he that does not believe these words, or doubts, is unworthy and unfit; for the words For you require altogether believing hearts.” If you realize that you are a sinner, in need of forgiveness, believe that Jesus offers you that forgiveness with his body and blood and the bread and wine of the Supper, then it is for you.

St. Paul’s warning is for those who are sinning in the process of going to the Sacrament. If you really do not want forgiveness for some or all of your sins, watch out. You are, at best, treating trivially the very Body and Blood of your Savior, sacrificed on the cross for you. At worst, you mock the Lord’s Supper. This you would do to your peril.

This is why Christians take a moment to prepare to receive Holy Communion. Luther’s Christian Questions and Their Answers are very helpful when you do this. Remember your sins, your need for forgiveness, that Jesus desires to forgive you. Then joyfully go to the altar to receive the sacrifice he made for you, being united with him and your brothers and sisters in Christ.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Blog Post Series

Names for the Lord’s Supper

God gives his grace to us through the means of grace — the Gospel, Baptism, the Lord’s Supper and Absolution. The Lord’s Supper is unique in that it is known by several names. Each emphasizes a different aspect of this great gift to us.

The name the Lord’s Supper reminds us that this sacrament belongs to our Lord Jesus, who instituted it and whose Body and Blood we eat with its bread and wine. The Lord’s Supper is both very simple and yet completely beyond our understanding. We trust the Lord who gives it to us and so call it his supper.

When we call the Lord’s Supper the Sacrament of the Altar, we focus on the sacrifice of Jesus. Following his command, we remember that he offered up the body that we eat and the blood that we drink as a sacrifice for our sins. The blessings this sacrament gives — forgiveness of sins, life and salvation — are ours because of this sacrifice.

We speak of Holy Communion because the Lord unites us with himself and with our brothers and sister in Christ in this meal. (1 Corinthians 10:16-17) The Lord’s Supper brings together bread with his body given for us and wine with his blood shed for us. When we eat it, we are united with him in the same way that Baptism unites us with his death and resurrection. We are also brought together as one body with Christians of all times and places and are united with them.

We call the service of worship in which the Lord’s Supper is offered the Eucharist, which is from the Greek word εὐχαριστήσας which means thanksgiving. It refers to our thankfulness for the gift of this precious sacrament. It is sometimes called the Mass (yes, even by Lutherans!), which comes from that Latin words that conclude the liturgy: “Ite, missa est” (“Go, you are sent”) It reminds us that we are sent by God into the world. Most frequently, however, Lutherans prefer the term Divine Service (from the German word Gottesdienst). This term reminds us that two things happen in worship. God serves us, giving us his gifts of his word and sacraments and we serve God, returning to him our thanks and praise for his mercy.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

What is Absolution?

Encore Post: Lutherans cherish absolution as a way that the forgiveness of sins won by Jesus on the cross is applied to Christians when they confess their sins. It is a form of the preaching of the Gospel, which takes what God has promised to all who believe in him and announces it to specific individuals. All Christians may assure their brothers and sisters that their sins are forgiven, but ordinarily it is pastors who hear the confession of sins and pronounce the forgiveness of sins to specific individuals or congregations. This is done for the sake of good order and for the assurance of troubled souls that their sins are really forgiven. Pastors are men that God calls through a local congregation to preach the Gospel and administer the sacraments on their behalf and as a instrument of their Lord Jesus.

The form that Lutheran pastors use to absolve sins sounds odd to many Protestants and even offensive to some. Yet they do so at the command of Jesus, who instituted absolution and gave the church the power to forgive sins or retain them. (Matthew 18:18-20, John 20:21-23, 2 Corinthians 5:19-21) This power Jesus gives is called by theologians the Office of the Keys.

Confession and Absolution comes in two forms: Private Confession and General Confession. Private Confession is available especially when you commit a sin that you cannot shake, that Satan uses to accuse you and that you feel God cannot possibly forgive. When he is ordained, a pastor promises before God that he will never reveal what is confessed to him — even to his wife. This seal of the confessional is absolute, unless the person who confesses the sin releases the pastor of the obligation. When you share the deepest of your sins and the pastor forgives you, you can be at rest. Jesus promised that you can believe this as if he himself spoke these words — because it is Jesus who is speaking through your pastor. (Luke 10:16)

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

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Stay Calm and Remember Your Baptism

Encore Post: While Baptism is a one-time event, its blessings last a lifetime. Baptism is an event outside of us, observed by witnesses and recorded in books. Especially when we are baptized as children, there is no question that God loves us, that he adopted us as his children and that we will live with him forever. When we are baptized, we realize that we are not seekers, but that God sought us and found us. We can be sure that we are saved and that we will live with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit forever.

In our sin-filled world, where we are at war with the world, the devil and our flesh, life can get confusing very fast. As we are confronted with our sinful nature, we may wonder how God can love us, whether we please him or can ever measure up to his standards. At times like these, we can remember our baptism. No matter what happens, this is the central fact of our lives. I am baptized.

St. Paul reminds us that in baptism, we are united to Christ in his death. (Romans 6:3-11) Christ bore our sins on the cross, suffered and died to pay the full penalty we deserved for them. Because we are baptized, when he died, we died. When He rose from the dead, we rise to new life. Now we can face anything that comes our way.

Each day, we can prepare ourselves in prayer for the day. We can make the sign of the cross, remembering that we are baptized, thank God for his mercies and remember that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:37-39)

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Blog Post Series

Baptism Saves You

Encore Post: Perhaps the point of greatest conflict between Lutherans and the Evangelical movement is our confidence that the Bible teaches that baptism saves you. As I noted in another post, most Protestants think of Baptism as a simple ceremony where a Christian declares that he puts his faith in Jesus as his personal savior. They think of baptism as something we do and so think that to say that baptism saves us, that it is the same thing as saying salvation is something we earn by what we do. Yet the Bible clearly says, “Baptism saves you” (1 Peter 3:21-22) and”unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5)

If Lutherans believed that baptism was something we do, we also would reject the teaching that it saves. After all, the heart and center of the Lutheran confession is salvation is by grace alone through faith alone for the sake of Christ alone. But we believe what the Scriptures teach, that salvation is God’s work, not ours. God the Father saved us, not by what we have done, but washing us and renewing us in baptism by the Holy Spirit. (Titus 3:4-7) Jesus gave himself for the church, cleansing us by the water and the word. (Ephesians 5:25-27) In Christ, through faith, God has buried us with Jesus in baptism and made us alive with Christ, forgiving our sins.(Colossians 2:11-14) So, when we say we are saved by baptism, we are saying that God saves us by baptism.

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Jesus and the Money Changers

Encore Post: When Jesus entered Jerusalem, it was through a gate that opened into the temple. In the Court of the Gentiles, he saw many businessmen in booths they set up to sell goods to the pilgrims arriving for Passover. In Jesus’ day, the High Priestly family allowed businessmen to sell sacrificial animals there, just outside the temple proper. They would, of course, do this for very high prices and pay the High Priestly family for the privilege.

Another business, money changing, also went on in this area. Roman money bore images of the Emperor and pagan gods. These could not be carried into the temple, the High Priests ruled, since they broke the first commandment. Naturally, these moneychangers would charge a fee to change money into temple money.

When Jesus arrived, he saw this going on. He saw it for what it was — stealing from God’s people as they came to worship. He drove these people out of the temple with a whip made of cords. This made a deep impression on the people — and stiffened the resolve of the priests to see him killed.

After he did this, Jesus and his disciples returned to Bethany, likely to spend the night with Mary, Martha and Lazarus.

Rev. Robert E. Smith

Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana