St. Matthias, 13th Day of Lent
Dear friends in Christ. In tonight’s reading from our Lord’s Passion we read of His betrayal by Judas in the Garden of Gethsemane. Judas was leading this large crowd that had lanterns, torches, swords and clubs. Now the betrayer [Judas] had given them a sign, “Whoever I kiss is the man. Arrest him.” Immediately he went to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him. Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” Then they advanced, took hold of Jesus and arrested him.
Of course, we later find out that Judas regretted what he had done and in despair went out and hung himself and had a nasty end. In tonight’s reading, though, we also heard Peter denying our Lord three times and he, too, regretted what he had done and went outside, broke down and wept bitterly. Later on, Peter was reinstated and became one of the main apostles of our Lord’s Church. What was the difference between the two? Both regretted what they had done and felt bad. The difference was the despair—Judas did not look to Jesus and His forgiveness and so he felt nothing but wrath and condemnation. Peter’s repentance, though, was a true repentance, one that not only included sorrow over sin but also trust in Jesus and reliance on Him for forgiveness of that sin.
What is the rest of the story? After Jesus’ ascent into heaven, Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and, pointed to the OT prophecies that said another was to take Judas, the betrayer’s place: ‘Let another take his office.’ So what was the solution? What would qualify someone to take Judas’ spot as one of the 12? Peter said, "So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.” To be an apostle, the man had be with Jesus from the very beginning and seen the risen Christ. Of the 120, only two fit the bill: Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
It is this Matthias whom the Church remembers today—Judas’ replacement. Other than what we read in today’s Epistle, we don’t know anything for sure about St. Matthias, who seemingly quietly drops out of sight—because remember: the book of the Acts of the Apostles is really the Book of Some of the Acts of Some of the Apostles. What volume could contain everything that the Holy Spirit worked in and through all the Apostles? See some of the traditions about St. Matthias on the back of your bulletin.
In the Gospel appointed for today, we meet Jesus right after He denounced the cities of Galilee in which He had preached and performed miracles. They had rejected Him and His preaching. And what does our text tell us? At that time—the very time Jesus was denouncing these cities to which He came urgently offering them grace, which they rejected—Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. Just as Jesus experienced, so too did the martyred St. Matthias, all the apostles, and all Christians who share that good news about Jesus—rejection.
Even here—precisely here—Jesus thanks/ praises His heavenly Father? How does that fit? Simply because of this: God’s word, the Gospel must be revealed; and God reveal[s] [it] to little children. This means that the Gospel, the Good News of the forgiveness of sins in Christ, the knowledge of who God is and that He is gracious and merciful, is not something that is self-evident; it’s not something that people know on their own; it’s not something that they can sit down and figure out. Luther puts it this way in the catechism: I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord or come to Him…
The point is, that yes, we know that there is a God. We know that there is a God because our own conscience tells us; God has written on the human heart so that we instinctively know that there is a God. We also know from nature that there is a God who designed and created it—after all, it’s there, how did it get there unless there is a creator? But who is that God Who made it? Who is that God that my conscience tells me exists? What is that God like—how is He disposed toward me? That is what is hidden from us; that is what has to be revealed. That’s why the Lord gave His Church and the world the prophets of the OT and the apostles of the NT—like St. Matthias—so that through them and the word that they preached and wrote people could come to know who the true God is—the holy Triune God—and what He is like. That’s why Christ continues to give His Church pastors and teachers; that’s why the Church—and so each of our Lord’s Christians—has the command and privilege to tell others the Good News of Jesus, the forgiveness of sins, life, salvation. Each time we remember in Church one of our Lord’s apostles, we are reminded that God and the things of God—His gifts and blessings for us and our salvation—are hidden to us and that they must be revealed: I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things.
Dear Christian, the Gospel—the things of God—is a mystery; it is something unknown but God reveals it. God isn’t playing a game, hiding Himself. Instead, the things of God, the Gospel, are only hidden because we are sinners and unable to recognize them. The fault isn’t with God—sin has corrupted us and our reason.
Listen again to Jesus’ word of praise to the Father: I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from whom? –The wise and understanding and—have instead revealed them to little children.
Why is the Gospel, why are the things of God hidden from the wise and understanding? Because the wise and understanding are the ones who want to trust in their own wisdom. They are the ones who want God to conform to their understanding and how they think God should act and do things. They are the ones trusting in their own righteousness and goodness and think they are good enough to enter heaven.
Again, God is not playing a game—hiding the Gospel, hiding the forgiveness of sins, hiding eternal life—He reveals it most fully and wonderfully. That’s why He, the eternal God, became man; why He Himself came to this world, revealed Himself to the world as the true God, openly brought about the salvation of the world. But what happened? He, His word and work was rejected by most. St John 1.10-11 writes of this: He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. Who would reject Him? The wise and understanding. Why? Because they oppose what God has revealed—it’s hidden from them—even though it’s in full sight—because they deliberately close their hearts and minds to what God reveals, in His Person, Christ, and in His work and Word—like the Galilean villages that Jesus denounces right before our text, like the religious leaders, like Judas. In other words, if the mysteries of God, the Gospel, remain hidden, they remain hidden even though God reveals it.
I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. What’s Jesus saying here? It’s the grace of God that these things—the mystery of the Gospel, who He really is, our forgiveness and eternal life—are hidden…from the wise and understanding. Because it shows that the fact that we are Christians is not due to our wisdom, understanding, holiness, good works, etc. It is due to God’s grace alone. The very fact that God has revealed them to little children means that knowledge of God, Who/ what God is, that we know/believe the great mystery of the Gospel does not come about in an ordinary way, but that it is God’s gracious gift.
Again, as Luther says: I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord or come to Him, but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me by His gifts. The Holy Spirit is mightily at work through the word of God opening our minds and hearts to understand the Scripture and to listen to and believe the word. That’s God revealing Himself! That’s His grace! Our text: All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Jesus has sent His Holy Spirit to us in the word and baptism to reveal Himself and to bring us to know Him rightly and to receive, by the faith He creates in us, the mysteries of the Gospel—forgiveness of sin and eternal life.
2. When God reveals Himself and His Gospel to us, when by the work of His Holy Spirit in the word He, in grace, creates faith in our hearts to believe and receive it, we hear Jesus’ gracious invitation and come to Him: "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” When God reveals Himself and His Gospel to us, He is drawing us to Himself saying Come to me. The fact that we trust in Him and receive the heavenly gifts and blessings Jesus won for us on the cross—that the things of God have been revealed to us—means the Holy Spirit has brought us to spiritual life.
Who is it that Jesus is revealing Himself and the Gospel mystery to, calling to Come to me? All who labor and are heavy laden, that is, those who very much feel their sin, who sorrow over their sin—and like Peter does in tonight’s reading—feel the terrors of sin and death. Unless we feel our sin and their consequences, unless we recognize the dire consequences of our sin—death and damnation—we will not hear Jesus calling to us: Come to me. That’s the great blessing of Lent and our taking the special/ extra time to examine our hearts and lives in the light of God’s holy law; to see if we have become the wise and understanding, closing our hearts and minds to God’s revealing Himself thinking we know it all already.
May we use Lent to become as little children and to be drawn to Christ as He calls to us through His word: Come to me. He has revealed Himself to us, shown Himself to us as the gentle and lowly [One] in heart, [so that we] will find rest for [our] souls.
In Lent, as we hear Christ again revealing Himself and His saving Gospel to us in His word and inviting us, in grace, by His Spirit at work in the word, we see what a kind, gentle Savior He is. As Peter experienced—and as all Christians down through the ages have experienced—our Lord is gracious; He is kind to sinners and does not turn them away but receives us. In the word, Jesus reveals Himself—because He and His salvation is hidden to our natural sin-corrupted reason—and directs us to Himself as our only Savior: Come to me. In a glorious and tangible way in the Holy Supper, Jesus invites us, Come to me. There we, burdened by our sin—weak and lamenting it—receive rest, the consolation and strengthening of faith, as we receiving Jesus’ very body and blood and forgiveness experience in a very real way that the Lord is gracious. There as we Come to Him and Take [His] yoke upon [us], He bears us and our burdens. The Lord and His Gospel are hidden but in grace He reveals Himself and His Gospel to us in His Word and invites us to come to Him.INJ