Easter 2—Misericordias Domini
Beloved. What has been happening since Lent also happens today—the Sundays receive a name coming from the first Latin words of the Introit. Today is named “Misericordias Domini” meaning “the goodness of the Lord”—from Psalm 33 used in today’s Introit: The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. That is easy to recognize now as we see all around us the new life in the fields and woods; in the orchards, plowed field and barnyards. We see the Lord blessing us and giving us the promise of His continuing to preserve our lives by providing our food. We see the grass growing and the flowers blooming. There seeing the Lord blessing us with beauty to surround us. We even see the leaves on the trees and there are reminded of the shade we will enjoy on a hot summer’s day—a reminder that the Lord is providing even for our smallest need and comfort. So, yes, it is easy now to see that the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord –nature is preaching it to us!
Also think—all this beauty and all this blessing of the Lord is all a foretaste of the perfect joy and blessedness that will be ours when we are one day with our Lord in heaven. As wonderfully as the Lord now provides for us, there is still thorn and thistle; there is still famine and flood. As much beauty that surrounds us in the creation, there is also much ugliness and corruption. All of this is the result of sin. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord–when we see the beauty and blessing and are reminded that this is a foretaste of something far, far better with our Lord in heaven—what joy fills our heart! When we see and/ or experience the corruption and ugliness of sin, we are greatly comforted that all these effects of sin are only for the here and now. The best is yet to come.
And that is why we pray in our collect today that the Lord would grant to [His] faithful people, rescued from the peril of everlasting death, perpetual gladness and eternal joys. In this life we live and experience that the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord but at the same time because of sin, that goodness is covered over. That’s why our gaze is turned heavenward—reminded that as richly blessed as we are and experiencing and enjoying the goodness of the Lord now, what is far greater and unimaginable awaits; and even when that goodness of the Lord that fills the earth is seemingly concealed to us as we are in the midst of great sorrow, trial and anguish, precisely then do we turn our gaze toward heaven where there is that perpetual gladness and eternal joy.
In short, good times and bad times lead us to turn our attention and to look to heaven and its perpetual gladness and eternal joys.
But our old sinful human nature doesn’t want us to do that. It wants us to fix our gaze/ attention on the here and now alone: on the one hand, when things are good, to make our heaven on earth; and on the other hand, when things are going badly, to lead us to despair as if this is all there is.
To counteract these notions, we need to hear the proclamation of the Church. That’s why St. Isaiah begins in our text: O Zion, you who bring glad tidings, get up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, You who bring good tidings, lift up your voice with strength, lift it up, be not afraid; say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!”
Dear Christian, we are in the midst of the joy of the Easter season; in the midst of our celebration of Jesus’ victory over our spiritual enemies of death, sin, devil and hell. God wants this proclamation to go out. That’s why He entrusted it to His Church, to His dear Christians to announce to the world and to keep announcing and reminding ourselves that we have been rescued from the peril of everlasting death, and now because of Jesus and His work and through faith in Him perpetual gladness and eternal joys await us. What a season of joy and triumph! And this is not just for the Easter season but we Christians always live in this joy and have the blessed privilege and task of announcing to one and all that Good News about Jesus—that in Him is forgiveness of sins and eternal life; because of Him perpetual gladness and eternal joys await us. When it comes to telling others the Good News about Jesus, to encouraging fellow struggling Christians, to speaking the truth in love to a world that doesn’t want to hear the message of Christ, to being prepared to give an account for our hope, our text is clear: Be not afraid! The Lord is with us. He gives us the Holy Spirit. And our message is powerful.
“Behold your God!” This is the heart of the Christian message. We bring people to the Lord and into His presence. We introduce people and keep pointing them to Jesus: “Behold your God!” But who is Jesus? Who is He? What is He like? St. Isaiah in our text: Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him; Behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him. Here we see our Lord Christ is ruling with strength; here is a military image of Him. This is how He comes and we see Him. Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand Jesus came in strength. He came the almighty God, the Son, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. He came to rescue us from our spiritual enemies of sin, death, devil and hell; He came to bring us comfort in the midst of our sorrows and repentance; and He came to bring us every heavenly and spiritual blessing—so that the great earthly blessings, the goodness of the Lord that fills the earth, would point us forward to the perpetual gladness and eternal joys that await us.
Strength is that characteristic that marks the Lord. And He came in strength to fight the devil and all that hinders our salvation. He came to cast out the prince of this world. And Jesus did just that. But He did it in a way which seemed very weak—by suffering and dying on cross. But it was precisely by His death that He destroyed death. Jesus couldn’t show His true power over death until He died and rose again. A few verses after today’s Gospel, Jesus says [Jn 10.18]: No one takes [My life] from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. Jesus looked weak as He placed Himself under the Law and was tempted to sin in every way we are; but He showed His strength and power over sin by never once sinning. “Behold your God!” Yes, Jesus looked weak in the virgin’s arm, in suffering and temptation, on the cross and in the tomb. But look again: Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him. He comes in strength as the very God Himself; He comes in strength to attack and defeat head on the devil; He comes in strength to enter death but to rise from the dead destroying it.
“Behold your God!” proclaims the Christian to the world. He is still the mighty one. His arm shall rule for Him. Jesus is now ruling all things in heaven and earth for the good of His Church, for the good of His dear Christians. Even when it looks now like Jesus is out of the picture and the devil and his allies are running the show, it is still true: His arm shall rule for Him. Jesus brings into subjection or overthrows what opposes Him. He does so as He is mightily gathering into His Church, into His kingdom, people from all over the world. But here, too it looks like great weakness because the way Jesus brings us into His Church and keeps us in the faith is by the simple, weak, humble means of word, water, bread and wine—all things that can be easily rejected. But through these, the Holy Spirit is powerfully at work to create and preserve faith; through these the Holy Spirit works to make our faith in Jesus strong.
That’s why even as Christians we need to hear: “Behold your God!” when it comes to the way Jesus deals with us today. Think of the Blessed Sacrament. When we see the bread and wine, don’t think it’s simple bread and wine. Instead, let us hear our text: “Behold your God!” Here is Jesus, our God, with us, in our midst, in a most wonderful way with His body and His blood: This is My Body; this is My blood given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. We see Him and receive Him in the sacrament. He unites with us in a most wonderful way. And as He comes to us He comes giving us His most precious gifts that He won for us on the cross. Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him; Behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him.
His reward … and His work—that’s the spoils of His victory for us over our spiritual enemies. When Jesus comes to us He gives us the forgiveness of sin and eternal life, peace with God. These are the spoils He won by His victory over sin, death and devil by His life, suffering, death and resurrection. He gives them to us fully and freely. When we gather together in worship, there is Jesus with us. “Behold your God!” Let us see Him with the eyes of faith in our midst giving us the spoils of His victory already now and which we shall enjoy in full force come eternity.
And now our text continues: He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom and gently lead those who are with young. It seems that the image changes from a strong military type victory to the gentle shepherd. But is it really that dramatic of a change? After all, isn’t the gentle shepherd the same one who destroys the wolf trying to eat the sheep? “Behold your God!” Not only is Jesus the one who fought and conquered our spiritual enemies—His empty tomb proclaims that victory—but He is also the one who is kind and gentle and takes proper care of us as the shepherd of our souls.
He will feed His flock like a shepherd. We, dear Christian, who love, hear and follow Jesus, our Good Shepherd can depend on Him to be kind and generous, even though, or perhaps better put, because we are weak and helpless. We heard Jesus say in today’s Gospel: I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired man, who is not a shepherd, does not own the sheep. He sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep, and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the sheep and scatters them. As our Good Shepherd, proving He is our Good Shepherd, Jesus shows tender care and sacrifice. Since Jesus, the Good Shepherd [laid] down his life for the sheep, us, we can be certain He is dealing with us in nothing but His grace, mercy, patience and love. He knows our weaknesses and our sins. He doesn’t despise us or turn away from us because of them. Instead, He is patient and works by His word and sacrament to strengthen us in the faith, to lead us away more and more away from sin and into holiness. And when we do stray, when we do sin, He is there giving us His gifts of forgiveness of sin and peace with God. He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom and gently lead those who are with young. The image the prophet uses of our Lord’s Christians, you and me, is one of the weakest members—the lambs, who are weak and inexperienced; ones that need to be carried—ones that cannot protect themselves and are in need of the Shepherd’s constant care. Remember: He will gather the lambs with His arm–that is the same mighty arm that defeated our enemies. And that means that He is strong to gather us to protect us and care for us. It means that we are safe in His arms. Nothing or no one can separate us from Him! A glorious comfort, dear Christian! And He is guiding us safely through this earthly life. And even when we feel ourselves too weak and unable to, He carries us in His bosom. Look to Him, your Good Shepherd! Behold Your God—He rules with strength and gentleness. INJ