"In His death, Jesus puts to death all our sin and uncleanness. In His resurrection, He rises, having thrown off that sin and death which makes us unclean. In Holy Baptism, He puts to death in you that which is unclean and by water and the Spirit and the Word brings forth a new creation that is clean. In His Supper, Jesus takes His pure and clean flesh and blood and puts them into you so that you are cleansed and purified by His forgiveness."
Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? No one! (Job 14:4)
"In the Name of Jesus. Amen. Job's cry is true of sinners. We are unclean because of our sins. Thoughts. Words. Deeds. Turned from God. Loveless toward our neighbor. How do we fix that? How do we take ourselves who are unclean and bring something clean and pure out of it? We don't. We can't. Many would like to think sin is just a mild defect that can easily be buffed out or shined up. But sin is a ruining, a corruption, a destruction of that image we once had from God.
So Job's own words condemn him. And us. And all sinners. But there IS someone who can bring the clean out of the unclean. That's Jesus, who takes us in our sin and raises us to life by His death and resurrection.
In His death, Jesus puts to death all our sin and uncleanness. In His resurrection, He rises, having thrown off that sin and death which makes us unclean. In Holy Baptism, He puts to death in you that which is unclean and by water and the Spirit and the Word brings forth a new creation that is clean. In His Supper, Jesus takes His pure and clean flesh and blood and puts them into you so that you are cleansed and purified by His forgiveness.
Those false preachers and prophets we've been hearing about this week always give themselves away by thinking they can bring something clean out of something unclean. All they really do is tell people how to try to clean themselves up and cover their uncleanness. It's like whitewashing a tomb. You can paint it but it's still a tomb full of old bones. So their preaching doesn't do anything but fool people into thinking they're clean when they're still filthy in their sins.
But Jesus does what Job and none of us can. He makes out of us something clean. That's the power of the blood and water which flows from Jesus' side and makes you clean by the forgiveness of sins. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
Today Your mercy calls us To wash away our sin. However great our trespass, Whatever we have been, However long from mercy Our hearts have turned away, Your precious blood can wash us And make us clean today."
(Today Your Mercy Calls Us, LSB 915:1)
Higher Things, November 14, 2103
Higher Things:
http://higherthings.org/
Job 14:1-6 ESV
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job+14%3A1-6&version=ESV
Jer. 29:1-19 ESV
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah%2029:1-19&version=ESV
Matt. 26:36-56 ESV
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2026:36-56&version=ESV
"Nothing but the blood of Jesus" (Sarah Hart Pearsons):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT4DYXnfGto
Photo: KL
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