“Hear another parable. There was a certain householder who planted a vineyard, hedged it around, dug a wine press in it, built a tower, and lent it out to farmers, then went into a remote country. And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the farmers so that they might receive its fruits. And the farmers took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants more in number than the first, and they did to them in like manner. But last of all, he sent to them his son, saying, ‘They will reverence my son.’ But when the farmers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and let us seize his inheritance.’ And they caught him, cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. Therefore, when the Lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?” They say to him, “He will miserably destroy those wicked men and will lease out his vineyard to other farmers, who will render him the fruits in their seasons.” Jesus says to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘The stone which the builders rejected, the same has become the head of the corner. This is the Lord’s doing and it is marvelous in our eyes’? Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth its fruits. And whoever falls on this stone shall be broken, but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.” And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spoke of them. But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet. Matthew 21:33-46 (Cf. Mark 12:1-12; Luke 20:9-19)

This parable of Jesus was spoken as a warning to the religious leaders of the Jews. The people of Israel were God’s planting, His vineyard. God had redeemed them and made them His own people.

The chief priests, scribes and elders were like the wicked vinedressers in this parable. They were entrusted with the task of caring for God’s people by teaching them from the Word of God and leading them in worship and in service to God. But when God sent His servants, the prophets, to call the people to repentance, the prophets and their message were rejected. Some were even mistreated and killed.

God sent John the Baptist to prepare His people for the coming of their Messiah. John called on all to repent and be baptized that they might receive forgiveness from the Lord God, but the religious leaders of the Jews rejected John and his baptism (cf. Luke 3:1ff.; 7:29-30; Mark 1:1ff.).

Finally, God sent His own beloved Son; but He and His Word were rejected by them too. Their Christ they handed over to Pontius Pilate to be crucified.

The religious leaders of the Jews were to be building the kingdom of God by rightly teaching the Word of God and preparing the people for the coming of their Messiah and Savior, but they laid aside and rejected the Chief Cornerstone, Jesus Christ (Psalm 118:22). Instead of pointing people to Jesus their Savior, they rejected and killed the very Son of God!

Unless they repented, they faced eternal destruction and torment in hell for their rejection of Christ Jesus (cf. John 3:18,36; 2 Thess. 1:7-9). Because these leaders of God’s people rejected Christ, God put others in charge of His flock, faithful shepherds who would feed God’s flock with the pure Word of God (cf. Jer. 23:1-4).

Pastors today can take admonition from this parable of Jesus as well! They are to faithfully proclaim the doctrine of the Apostles and Prophets – the true Word of God – and they are to faithfully hold up Christ Jesus and His redemptive work as the central teaching and cornerstone of the Christian Faith. They are to point those in their care to Jesus and His cross so that they would trust in Him and receive forgiveness and life through faith in Jesus’ name.

However, many pastors set aside the Christ of the Bible and reject His Word. Instead of pointing their hearers to Jesus and His cross for pardon and forgiveness, they direct them to human works and man-made traditions. They seek to make followers for themselves rather than disciples of Christ Jesus.

Christian congregations, too, must take great care to build upon Christ and His Word, lest they forsake the only true foundation and set aside the Chief Cornerstone, which is Christ their Savior.

Bring those into Thy fold who still to Thee are strangers; guard those who are within against offense and dangers. Press onward with Thy Word till pastor and his fold through faith in Thee, O Christ, Thy glory shall behold. Amen. (The Lutheran Hymnal, Hymn #485, Verse 7)

[Scripture is quoted from the Revised Common Version of the Bible.]

“Now all these things happened to them for examples. And they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” 1 Corinthians 10:11 (Read v. 1-13)

Most Christians have heard and read of the failings of God’s people Israel. They were all graciously redeemed by the LORD God and delivered from slavery in Egypt, but not all entered into the land of promise.

The Apostle Paul wrote (in 1 Cor. 10:1-4) of this to the believers in Corinth: “Moreover, brothers, I do not wish that you should be ignorant, that all our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea, and were all baptized to Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink (for they drank of that spiritual Rock which followed them, and that Rock was Christ).”

In the same way as Christians are all baptized into Christ and partake of His body and blood in the Lord’s Supper, so the people of Israel were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They partook of the manna which God provided them and drank water from the spiritual Rock which followed them, which was Christ. Yet, we read in verse 5: “But with many of them God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.”

God’s Word says (in verses 6-13): “Now these things were our examples so that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted, neither be idolaters as some of them were, as it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.’ Neither let us commit lewdness as some of them committed, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day. Let us not test Christ as some of them also tested and were destroyed by serpents. Let us not murmur as some of them also murmured and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now all these things happened to them for examples. And they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed, lest he fall. There has no temptation taken you but such as is common to man. But God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape so that you may be able to bear it.”

What is the apostle saying to us? Just because we have been baptized into Christ and have partaken of Christ does not mean we cannot fall away and lose the salvation God has so graciously provided for us. If we lust after and desire evil things instead of what the LORD God has given us and turn back into sin and unbelief, we too will lose the life Christ Jesus so desires to give us. If we do not walk and live by faith in God and the promises of His Word, we will also, like so many of the Israelites, be overthrown in the wilderness of this world.

We ought not ever to think that we are Christian and all is well with our souls if we are living in the sins of the flesh. The Bible clearly warns us: “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, dissensions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like these, of which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal. 5:19-21).

True Christians are sorry for their sins, trust in Christ’s atoning sacrifice for forgiveness and then, as a fruit of faith, seek to live for Christ in accord with His Word. They are led by God’s indwelling Spirit. Read 1 John 1-2.

Alone, we would most certainly fall and perish. But we have been redeemed by Christ Jesus. He walks with us and leads us. His Spirit dwells within us. He is with us always and never permits us to be tempted above what we are able to withstand. If we walk with Him, being led by God’s Spirit, He will bring us safely through the wilderness of this world to Himself in heaven.

It is as the Bible says, “And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and will preserve me to his heavenly kingdom, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen” (2 Tim. 4:18).

Dearest Lord Jesus, forgive me for failing to follow You in faith. Lead me in the way everlasting for Your name’s sake. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from the Revised Common Version of the Bible.]

“O come, let us sing to the LORD. Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving and make a joyful noise to him with psalms. For the LORD is a great God and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the deep places of the earth. The strength of the hills is his also. The sea is his, and he made it. And his hands formed the dry land. O come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the LORD our maker. For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.” Psalm 95:1-7a

In Hosea 8:14, we read that “Israel has forgotten his Maker and builds temples.” They were still a religious people, but they had forgotten who the LORD God was and how to worship and serve Him.

These words are not only true of Old Testament Israel at the time of Hosea the prophet; they are true of us today. As a nation and people, we still build churches but we have forgotten our Maker and we neglect to give Him the glory and praise due unto His name.

We need to remember that “the LORD himself is God. It is he who has made us, and not we ourselves. We are his people and the sheep of his pasture” (Psalm 100:3).

In spite of man’s attempts to escape this fact, the truth still remains that the LORD (Yahweh) God of the Bible (the Triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) has created us and all things by His almighty word (Gen. 1-2; Neh. 9:6). It is He who formed us in our mothers’ wombs and gave us life (Ps. 139:13-16), and it is He who sustains our lives (cf. Ps. 145:15-16).

And, not only is the LORD God the Creator and Sustainer of all things, He gave His only begotten Son and redeemed us through the innocent sufferings and death of Christ Jesus that we might have forgiveness for all our sins and again be alive to Him and worship His name (cf. Ps. 130:7-8; Jn. 3:16; 1 John 4:9-10; Rom. 5:8-11).

Isn’t it about time we remember our Creator; look to Him to forgive our sins for the sake of the holy life and bitter sufferings and death of God the Son, Christ Jesus, and then worship and serve Him with our lives?

If we do not humbly kneel before Him now, we shall be humbled and kneel before Him on the Last Day when He executes His judgment upon all people (cf. Phil. 2:5-11; Ps. 2).

O Almighty God, our Maker and Redeemer, for the sake of Christ Jesus, our Savior, forgive us for our many sins against You, and grant that we might kneel before You and worship You both now and forevermore in heaven! Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from the Revised Common Version of the Bible.]

“Today, if you will hear his voice, do not harden your heart, as at Meribah, and as in the day of Massah in the wilderness, when your fathers tested me, they proved me and saw my work. Forty long years I was grieved with this generation and said, ‘It is a people who err in their heart, and they have not known my ways,’ to whom I swore in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.” Psalm 95:7b-11 (Read Psalm 95)

Will you enter God’s eternal rest, or are you hardening your heart against Him? God’s Word comes to you. You have it in your Bible, and it is still preached by faithful ministers; but will you hear it and believe it?

The Children of Israel heard God’s words through Moses and even directly from God Himself on Mt. Sinai. They saw God’s mighty works in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness. But did they believe? Did they trust in the LORD God to lead and guide them, provide for them in their journeys, and bring them safely into the Promised Land? The answer is, No!

Again and again, they grumbled and complained. Again and again, they disobeyed the commandments of the LORD. And, when it was time to go up and take possession of the land the LORD was giving them, they doubted God’s Word to them and wanted to return to Egypt (cf. Num. 13-14). Therefore, because of their unbelief, they did not enter into the promised rest (cf. Ex. 17:1-7; 32:1-6; Num. 11:4ff.; 25:1ff.; 1 Cor. 10:1-12; Heb. 3:7ff.).

Now, the Word of the LORD comes to you. God has spoken to you through the Son. He calls you to repent of your sinful ways and rebellion against the LORD God and receive forgiveness and life through faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ, God’s own dear Son (cf. Luke 24:46-47).

Will you hear God’s Word? Will you acknowledge your utter sinfulness and rebelliousness before the LORD? (Cf. Psalm 32:1ff.) Will you come to God and trust in Him to receive you and forgive you for all your sins because Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God in human flesh, fulfilled the righteous demands of God’s law for you and then bore your punishment on the cross and rose again?

If you refuse to repent and turn to the Lord Jesus for mercy, you go astray in your heart. You do not know the way of the LORD, and you will not enter into His eternal rest! But if you humble yourself before the LORD, hear His Word, and believe, you will receive His mercy and be blessed with the eternal joys of heaven for Jesus’ sake!

LORD God, have mercy on us and grant that we do not harden our hearts against You and the truth of Your Word. By Your Holy Spirit, grant us true repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, our Savior. In His name, we pray. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from the Revised Common Version of the Bible.]

“But someone will say, ‘How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?’” 1 Cor. 15:35 (read 35-58)

Have you ever wondered what kind of body you will have in the resurrection – what you will be like?

It’s hard even to begin to imagine what we will be like on that day when Jesus Christ returns and raises up those who have died trusting in His name and changes the living who trust in Him for forgiveness and life.

What do the Scriptures say?

Jesus told the Sadducees that in the resurrection there is no marriage: “The children of this world marry and are given in marriage, but those who are accounted worthy to obtain that world and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage, neither can they die anymore, because they are equal to the angels and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection” (Luke 20:34-36).

After pointing out that we will be made like Christ when He was raised up (1 Cor. 15:35ff., St. Paul wrote: “Now this I say, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet shall sound, the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality” (v. 50-53).

St. Paul also wrote to the Philippians: “For our citizenship is in heaven, from where we also look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will change our vile body so that it may be fashioned like his glorious body, according to the working by which he is able even to subdue all things to himself” (Phil. 3:20-21).

So, what will we be like? The best answer I can give you is that we will be like Christ Jesus, who died our death for us and was raised up in glory never to die again. So also, after we die and our sin-corrupted bodies are laid in the grave, the bodies which are raised up will be changed from this corruptible flesh and blood to a glorified and perfect heavenly body made to live with our God and Savior forever. Our bodies which are raised up will be changed so that we are without sin, without growing old, without disease, without weakness and without death.

St. John wrote in 1 John 3:2: “Beloved, now we are the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”

It will be as God’s Word describes it in the Book of Revelation (21:3-4): “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, because the former things have passed away.”

Even now, we are being changed by the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit into the image of our Savior. As St. Paul wrote in 2 Cor. 3:18, “But we all, with open face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

And though we, as believers, do not long for death, we do long for the redemption of our sin-corrupted bodies so that we might be fully conformed to the image of Christ Jesus, our Savior. St. Paul wrote to the Romans that we, “ourselves also, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves waiting for the adoption, namely, the redemption of our body” (Rom. 8:23; cf. 2 Cor. 5:1ff.; Rom. 8:18-23, 28ff.).

With David, the sweet psalmist of Israel, we say, “As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied with your likeness when I awake” (Psalm 17:15).

Dear Lord Jesus, grant us faith to believe that as You have been raised up from the dead in glory, so we will be raised up with glorified and heavenly bodies, like unto You, and live in Your presence and glorify You, the Father and the Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from the Revised Common Version of the Bible.]