Definitions – What Does This Mean?

You’re No Angel: Things Angels are Not

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Beautiful young women in long, flowing white gowns, with big, downy wings and a glowing gold halo. A chubby, winged baby. The spirits of deceased Christians, also bearing wings and a halo, carrying a harp, and floating on clouds. Images like these fill our pictures, movies, television shows, and songs. Yet none of these are real, nor do they share much in common with God’s holy angels. They are very different creatures and are not mild, gentle beings. They are God’s heavenly army, powerful servants who, when they appear, command respect.

First of all, angels are not people. They are spirits God created to serve Him (Hebrews 1). Christians do not become angels when they die. Our spirits are unnaturally separated from our bodies at death — bodies that decay. But we do not remain in that state. On the Last Day, God will raise our bodies from the dead and reunite our spirits with them.

Angels are powerful beings, sometimes tasked with battling Satan and his demons (these are fallen, angelic creatures). They guard us, serve God on our behalf, and stand in His eternal presence. When they appear to people, they often inspire fear, and their first words are usually, “Fear not.” Some of God’s people are even tempted to fall down and worship them. Scripture poetically calls them gods.

Unlike popular television series and movies, angels are not like humans with flaws, prone to temptation and sin. The holy angels are now eternally sinless, having been tested by Lucifer’s rebellion. They have a perfect knowledge of God. While they always take the form of a male human when they appear to people, they never marry. They are not young, having existed since before the fall of Adam and Eve, nor are they ever female. Scripture does not mention halos. Medieval artists added them to draw attention to holy people and beings, especially in stained-glass windows. Likewise, Scripture only describes angels with wings when speaking of seraphim and cherubim.

Most importantly, angels ministered to Jesus during His earthly ministry. They announced His birth to the shepherds, ministered to Him after His temptation in the wilderness, strengthened Him in the Garden of Gethsemane, proclaimed His resurrection at the empty tomb, and promised His return at His ascension. Their ministry is always centered on Jesus and His saving work.

God does not send angels so that we will admire angels. He sends them to direct us to Christ. Their ministry always points beyond themselves to the Savior who died and rose again for us. On our last day and on the Last Day, they will escort God’s children into His presence, where we will live with Him forever. Therefore, we thank God for the ministry of His holy angels and join our voices with theirs in praising Him, both now and forever.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: What Does This Mean?

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

Michelmas

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The Church’s long season of ordinary time (Sundays after Trinity on a one-year cycle, Sundays after Pentecost on a three-year cycle) takes a turn with the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels on September 29. After this day, the readings increasingly direct our attention to the Last Day, when Jesus will return to be with us forever. We use the day to thank God for His holy angels, especially Michael the Archangel, whose army of light defeated Satan and his forces, casting them out of Heaven to the earth. In the English-speaking world, the feast is nicknamed Michelmas (Michael’s Mass), similar to Christmas (Christ’s Mass).

The holy angels (מַלְאָךְ, ἄγγελος) are God’s messengers. God created them to praise Him and bear His messages to His people. After the fall of Satan and his evil angels, they also battle these forces and protect us from harm. Two angels are named in Scripture: Michael (“Who is like God?”) and Gabriel (“God is my Strength”). Michael the Archangel leads the heavenly army of angels that battled Satan and his forces, casting him down from Heaven. Gabriel is the heavenly messenger who interpreted Daniel’s visions and announced the conceptions of John the Baptist and Jesus.

The Church does not worship angels. Instead, we thank God for them and for the care He provides through their ministry. Scripture repeatedly shows angels protecting God’s people, delivering His messages, and rejoicing in His saving work. Jesus Himself tells us that the angels of God rejoice over one sinner who repents.

As we remember St. Michael and All Angels, we also remember that we are part of a larger conflict between God’s kingdom and the powers of darkness. Yet we need not fear. Christ has already won the victory. The holy angels serve at His command and work for the good of His people. On the Last Day, they will gather the elect from the four winds and accompany God’s children into His presence forever.

We thank God for the ministry of angels, who stand by our side, protect us from the evil one, and will, on the last of our days, escort us home to Jesus. With Martin Luther, we pray:

I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.

— Martin Luther, Morning Prayer, Small Catechism

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

Pentecost

[Ninety-Seventh in a series of posts on Bible Stories]

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The Feast of Pentecost is the Greek name (πεντηκοστή) for the Jewish Feast of Weeks (Shavuot, שָׁבוּעוֹת in Hebrew). The day celebrated the harvest of the barley crop and the planting of the wheat crop in Israel. God established this day of thanksgiving on the fiftieth day after Passover, and it was one of three feasts the Torah commanded Jews to celebrate in Jerusalem whenever possible. In the days after Jesus’ ascension into heaven, the city was still crowded with Jews from around the world who had remained after Passover to celebrate this feast in the Holy City.

The Christian Church remembers the day as a kind of birthday. On this day, God poured out the Holy Spirit on the whole Church in a public and powerful way rather than only on selected prophets and leaders.

Both the Hebrew and Greek words for spirit can also mean “wind.” The Holy Spirit, or Holy Wind, hovered over the chaos before God created the heavens and the earth. During the Exodus, the Holy Spirit appeared visibly as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. When Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem, the Holy Spirit settled in the Holy of Holies as a cloud. When the Prophet Elijah fled to Mount Sinai, God sent a mighty wind, an earthquake, and a fire to get his attention. On Pentecost, the sound of a mighty rushing wind caught the crowd’s attention, and the wind and tongues of fire testified to the Holy Spirit’s presence.

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost fulfilled prophecy in the Old Testament (Joel 2:28-32), in the preaching of John the Baptist (Matthew 3:11), and in the promises of Jesus Himself (Acts 1:5). The Spirit enabled the apostles to proclaim God’s mighty works in languages they had never learned. Pilgrims from many nations heard the Gospel in their own tongues. On the day the Church was born, God showed that the message of salvation was intended for people of every nation, language, tribe, and people.

By baptizing His people with the Holy Spirit, Jesus gave them the power to witness to God’s love. He provided them with a Counselor to lead and guide them. Just as the prophets of old proclaimed God’s Word, every Christian now has the privilege of confessing Christ before the world. The same Holy Spirit who filled the apostles at Pentecost continues to call, gather, enlighten, and sanctify Christ’s Church today.

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

Three Days and Three Nights

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The Church has remembered Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday since ancient times as the days on which our salvation was won through the suffering, death, and resurrection of our Lord. She accomplishes this with a single service that lasts three days. The Maundy Thursday divine service begins with an invocation but does not conclude with a benediction. Good Friday services have neither an invocation nor a benediction. The Easter Vigil concludes the three-day service with the Benediction.

The name Maundy Thursday comes from the Latin word mandatum — the first word in the Latin translation of Jesus’ command: “a new commandment I give to you: love one another.” (John 13:34) Jesus gave this command at the Last Supper, the night we also remember because he also instituted the Lord’s Supper during that Passover meal. The Maundy Thursday service ends with the stripping of the altar, the lectern, and the pulpit, and the removal of the pastor’s vestments. Often, we read the account of the Garden of Gethsemane and Jesus’ arrest during this time. We depart in silence, noting that the disciples abandoned Jesus.

The day that begins at sunset on Maundy Thursday witnessed Jesus’ suffering, trial, crucifixion, and death. We call it Good Friday because it is the day we were redeemed. It is also the first day of Christ’s rest in the tomb. On this second day, Jesus was in the grave, beginning at sunset on Friday. On Holy Saturday after sunset, the third day starts.

In the ancient Jewish way of counting time, any part of a day could be counted as a whole day. Jesus died on Friday, rested in the tomb on Saturday, and rose on Sunday. Thus Christians have always confessed that He rose on the third day, just as He promised. The Church holds a vigil, a service that marks the beginning of Easter. Often, Christians are baptized during the vigil.

On these three days, Christ fulfilled his promise that he would take our sins to the cross, die to pay their due, make holy our graves by resting in death, defeat Satan and death, and rise again to shatter the grave forever. Three days to remember and to thank God for his mercy.

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

Jesus the Good Shepherd

[Eightieth in a series of posts on Bible Stories]

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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. Sometimes 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. They would not follow a stranger because they did not know his voice. A thief might try to steal the sheep, but the true shepherd cared for them and kept them safe. 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 battling 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 follow them willingly everywhere they wanted 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 lives, he will lead us through the valley of the shadow of death safely home to dwell in his house forever. (Psalm 23)

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 | Substackost Series

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

Parables

[Sixty-ninth in a series of posts on Bible Stories]

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A parable is a story told about very ordinary things and events, but that has a hidden spiritual meaning. Jesus loved to teach using parables. About 35% of his teaching uses them. Jesus used parables to help us understand God, His people, the world, and what 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 serve that one point. 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, not so much about the grace of Jesus, who seeks and saves the lost.

Allegories are parables in which each character or element in the story has a distinct, 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. He does this 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. Sayings such as the City on a Hill and the Light of the World are 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 such story. (Luke 10:25-37)

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

Luke’s Musical

[Fifty-Second in a series of posts on Bible Stories]

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St. Luke wrote his Gospel and the Book of Acts in polished, carefully constructed Greek. The introductions to both books are written in well-balanced, formal language, reminiscent of the best of ancient classical history. But when he begins the story of Jesus, he writes in the Greek of the Septuagint — the translation of the Old Testament read in the synagogues where Jesus and his disciples grew up. It would be like reading a novel that starts in New York, written with a Brooklyn accent, and, when the scene changes to Dallas, it speaks with a Texas twang and vocabulary.

As Luke weaves the story, he recalls several canticles — New Testament psalms, really — sung by various persons in it. The result is much like a modern musical. The Church picked up on this. We sing them in worship and have done so for over 1,600 years.

Called by the first few words of these songs in Latin, they are:

Mary’s song, the Magnificat. We sing it during Vespers.
Zechariah’s song, the Benedictus, is sung in morning services.
The Christmas Angel’s song, the Gloria, is sung in the Divine Service when the Lord’s Supper is served.
Simeon’s Song, the Nunc Dimittis, is also sung during Divine Service.

These songs of joy, celebrating the births of the Messiah and the prophet who announced him, are now our songs, too, not just at Christmas, but the whole year.

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

Hope

[Nineth in a series of posts on Ephesians 1 & 2]

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Hope is another one of those words that is hard to pin down. In everyday English, it means something like a wish that something we very much want to happen will come true. There is something about it that makes us doubt we will be so lucky.

In the Bible, hope is different. Hope is something you have no doubt will happen, so much so that you can build your life on it. In theological terms, the Christian hope is the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Because it is God himself who promises these blessings, we can count on it and live our lives knowing it will happen. This is how Christians can suffer and die rather than deny their faith in Christ. It is why the burial service calls it “the sure and certain hope of the Resurrection of the dead.”

Why is the Christian Hope so sure and certain? First of all, because God himself promises it in his Word. Second, because Jesus proved these promises by dying and rising again from the dead. So, he can be trusted to keep his promises that where he is, we will also be. For us, hope becomes reality when we die. He comes to bring us to be with him forever. Exactly what happens then is a mystery.

But this is just the beginning of the blessings kept safe in Heaven for us. On the last day, Jesus will return in glory, and he will bring us with him. He will raise our bodies from the grave and change us to be like him. We will then be gathered before the throne and our names read from the Book of Life. We will then live with him forever in Paradise, where there is no more sorrow, crying, grief, or pain. God will make everything new. He will bring us to the great marriage feast of the Lamb, which will never end. This great hope gives us joy even in suffering, since we know it will pass away.

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

Faith

[Seventh in a series of posts on Ephesians 1 & 2]

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Faith is one of those “church words” that everyone knows and uses, but finds hard to pin down. We use it to mean everything from a family of church bodies to a system of beliefs people hold to trusting in God to accepting that something is true but that we cannot prove. The Greek language uses one word for both faith and belief. (πιστεύω — pisteoo — to believe, πίστις; pistis; Faith) When the New Testament uses the word, it refers to both what we believe and our trust in God to keep his promises to save us.

When the Bible talks about faith in God (Saving Faith, Justifying Faith), it means trusting God to keep his promises, especially his promise to save us. This trust is not something we create by things we do. It is created in us when the Holy Spirit comes to us through the Gospel, Baptism, or the Lord’s Supper. (Romans 1:17, John 20:30-31, Ephesians 1:13, Romans 1:16-17) Our faith clings to Jesus, believing that his sufferings and death on the cross forgive our sins and give us everlasting life. This faith responds to the Grace given to us in God’s Word and the Sacraments. It thanks God for his mercy, praises him, and gives us the desire to serve God and our neighbors. (Much more on this later. For now, see Ephesians 2:10)

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

The Bible is All About Jesus

[Second in a series of posts on how to read the Bible]

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When you see a good friend reading a book, so taken by it they shut the whole world out, you ask them, “What’s it all about?” Your friend will sum it up in a few sentences. Of course, there is a lot more detail to the tale, but all the words and images it creates set the mood and move the plot along. Yet no really good story holds our interest if there is not a single central story that we care about.

The Bible is the most important book in the world, because it is God telling the story. This story is more than an enjoyable yarn. It is the story about how God saved us and how he will make the creation new again. Theologians call that Salvation History. So, if someone asks, “What is the Bible all about?” The best answer is “It is all about Jesus.” Jesus himself tells us this. (John 5:39)

Knowing that the Bible is all about Jesus helps us understand its message and the place of each verse within it. On the surface, the Bible is a small library of sixty-six books with different messages. They can seem disconnected and at odds from time to time. By this rule, we come to see the Bible has one story with a beginning, middle, climax, and end, all tied to what Jesus did and will do to save us. It helps us to see that we are actually a part of this story. Unlike good fiction, this story is real news, not fake news. It actually has a two-part message for us — which we’ll take up in the next post.

So, by knowing that the Bible is all about Jesus, or said in more formal language, all theology is Christology, we can unlock the treasures of the Holy Scriptures. The Bible is not all about how to live a happy life in this world, although it can help us with that. It is not about predicting the future, like some giant puzzle or math problem. It is not the key to success and riches, nor is it about what we should do to be good people. In fact, it is not so much about what we do, but what God has done: In Christ, he made the world, sorrowed over its sin, set out to save the world, was made man in the womb of the Virgin Mary, lived a perfect life in our place, suffered, died, rose again, ascended into heaven and one day will return to raise us from the dead to live with God forever. As you read the Bible, then, ask yourself: what does this have to do with Jesus? You’ll be surprised how much it helps to hear what God is saying to you in his word.

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