Trinity 8
Beloved. Today’s Gospel begins: Now when Jesus heard [about the death of John] He withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by Himself. St. John the Baptist had been beheaded. He had been in prison because he had condemned as contrary to God’s law King Herod’s adultery with Herodias, the wife of Herod’s half-brother. As it turns out, Herodias’ daughter, Salome, dances before the king in such a way that he is greatly pleased and promised to give her whatever she wanted. She asked her mother; her mother told her to ask for the head of St. John the Baptizer on a platter. She did and the king followed through on his foolish oath.
Today’s Gospel begins with Jesus’ response to John’s death: He withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by Himself. For Jesus, not only was John’s death a great loss personally as we see Jesus mourning John’s death, but it also pointed Jesus forward, that the time of His own crucifixion and death was soon coming. Not too long after this, we read [16.21]: Jesus began to show his disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day raised. And after that, Jesus was speaking about St. John the Baptizer saying of the Jews [17.12]: and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.
So here, Jesus filled with sorrow over the death of His relative and the one God sent to prepare the way for Him; so here, Jesus, the all-knowing God, knows that His own suffering and death is close at hand—and so perhaps for a time of mourning on what has happened and personal reflection on what will happen and for prayer, St. Matthew records: [Jesus] withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by Himself. But what happens next? When the crowds heard it, they followed Him on foot from the towns. When He went ashore He saw a great crowd, and had compassion on them and healed their sick. Here we see the heart of Jesus! Even in the midst of His own sorrow and mourning, He still has compassion on the crowds. His holy heart is filled with love and acts in that love. And as the Gospel unfolds, we see Jesus’ further compassion on them as He feeds that crowd of over 5000 there in that desolate place. That same heart of love and compassion showed itself all the way to the suffering and death on the cross. That same heart of love and compassion is turned to us today as well.
And then in today’s Epistle we also see a heart of love—that of St. Paul for his fellow Jews. But even this heart of love is a heart filled with love because of Jesus and His holy heart filled with love first. St. Paul knew and experienced that love of Jesus—just like we have; Jesus dwelt in the heart of that Apostle enlivening it and motivating it—just like He does with us. And what does St. Paul here write? I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. St. Paul is saying that if it were possible—which, of course, it isn’t—he would rather be condemned for the sake of his fellow Jews, that they would believe and be saved. He is truly distressed and grieved that his brothers/ kinsmen reject Jesus and the forgiveness of sin and salvation in Him. That is a heart full of love!
But that raises the question: Why? Why don’t the Jews/ Israelites believe? St. Paul points to all the advantages that they have and enjoy: They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. They had every advantage that none of the Gentiles had—God had showed them His grace and made them His people, the people from whom the Savior of the world would come; and by giving them the Law, prescribing the right worship, giving them prophets to remind them of the coming Savior, giving them prophets to call them back to Him when they had strayed—God was preparing a people to welcome the Savior of the world when He would come. But what happened? Most rejected and reject down to today!
This raises the question: If because of unbelief God gives what they want and has cast these His people away in their unbelief, does that mean that His word and promise are nothing and powerless? Or, to put it differently: If God and His word are rejected, does it mean that God and His word are infective and powerless? –St. Paul’s answer in our text? Absolutely not! He writes: But it is not as though the word of God has failed. That St. Paul’s kinsmen according to the flesh are condemned does not mean that God’s word has been invalidated or become ineffective. The simple fact of the matter is that God is faithful to His word and promise—and here St. Paul points out God’s faithfulness to His promise to Israel. What was the promise/ the word of God? –It was God’s promise that Israel be His people; it was His promise that Israel become the possessor and the bearer of God’s promise. In other words, the promised Savior of the world would come through Israel. And that’s precisely what happened! Remember what St. Paul written: They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Think of God’s faithfulness in preserving Israel when it looked as if He would be unfaithful and let Israel die out—and if Israel would die out, what would become of the promise of the Savior of the world? We see examples of God’s faithfulness recapped in the Introit that recalled the events of the Exodus out of Egypt and the desert wanderings. [And, by the way: in today's Gospel by feeding the 5000, Jesus is showing He is the Lord who preserved their ancestors in the desert.] God was faithful! The Messiah would be an Israelite! Even though down through the centuries before His coming, the vast majority of the Israelites would reject the Lord and His word, rejected His prophets speaking His word, rejected worship of the true God alone, God was still faithful to His word and promise and worked wonderfully and beautifully—and what happened? And from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. –The Savior did come, a descendant from Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, David, and born of an Israelite virgin in Bethlehem—just as God had promised and as He had spoken through the prophets He sent to teach and prepare the Israelites. God is faithful!
Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well [Jn 4.22]: Salvation is of the Jews, that is, the Savior of the world would be from Israel, a descendant of Judah. Since the Savior of the world would be from Israel, wouldn’t it naturally follow that the Jews would be the first to share in the Gospel that God intends for all people? Of course! What did we hear Jesus tell His disciples a few weeks ago in the Gospel [Mt 10.5,6]? Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And what did Jesus tell the disciples before His ascension [Lk. 24.47]? –that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations beginning at Jerusalem. God is faithful to His promises even when people reject.
This is very vital for us to understand that God’s promise stands even when people reject it. The fact that Jesus did come from Israel, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever, in spite of their historic rejection of God and His word down through the ages/ in spite of their rejection of Jesus Himself when He did come; this is a great comfort to us. God’s promise stands. The fact that so many reject it does not invalidate it; does not make it ineffective. Instead, God is so faithful to His promises that in spite of people’s rejection He carries it out—and even through their working and fighting against it He carries it out. His promise stands.
How vital for us that God’s promise stands even when we reject it! Each of our sins is a rejection of the Lord and His will. It is us making ourselves god and doing our own will. Just think if that –our unbelief and rejection—invalided or made God’s word of no effect—how could we ever turn to Him in sorrow and contrition and grab ahold of His promise to us in Jesus to forgive us our sin. That promise would not be there! By looking at the example of the Jews, St. Paul’s kinsmen and brothers who rejected, we see all the more gloriously God’s faithfulness to His word and promise; we can trust it all the more fervently; even our unbelief or rejection does not render it ineffective. Look to and hold to God’s word and promise. It stands forever sure. When people reject, as St. Paul writes in our text, it is not as though the word of God has failed.
And then St. Paul continues on: For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. Because God’s promise stands and has not failed, and because by the work of the Holy Spirit creating faith through that word of promise, some will believe that promise, there will be a division. There were those Jews—and Jesus ran across them often—who thought that just because they were Jews physically as descendants of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob that that made them somehow better and saved them; there was this carnal pride. But what is St. Paul here saying—he’s throwing all that out the door: what matters is not physical descent but spiritual descent: This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. And it is these believing Israelites/ Israelites who believe the promises of God, who trust in Jesus, who have that same faith as Abraham in the Savior, they are the children of promise and true spiritual descendants of Abraham. St. Paul points to these believing Israelites and says that even though not all Israelites believe and most have rejected Jesus and the promises God lavished on them, the word of God has not failed! God’s promise stands; His word has been fulfilled: here are these believing Israelites! They are the true children of Abraham; they are not cast away from Jesus but have a share in salvation in Jesus. There will always be a faithful remnant of the Israelites; true descendants of Abraham, who are both physically and spiritually descended from Abraham.
This gives us great comfort today. We see so many reject Jesus and the holy Christian faith. We see great sin in our own lives. Has God’s word failed? Absolutely not! His word and promise stand and continue to stand before us. And it is precisely this word and promise of God to us in Jesus that our faith clings to. This is nothing but God’s pure grace to us. We don’t earn/ deserve any of God’s gifts and blessings, but He holds them out to us and gives them to us.
And our text has a warning for us as well. Just as the Israelites were the recipients of God’s rich and abundant blessings and promises in the word, what did so many of them do? They rejected them. They rejected the Savior when He came. Let us examine our own heart and life to see what we are doing with God’s rich, abundant promises. Here is a call for us to treasure our treasure of God’s holy word and sacrament and hear and receive them again and anew and to believe His word of promise. The Lord is faithfully at work and even though His word is rejected, it doesn’t mean it’s ineffective. He is faithful; He calls us in grace; He holds out His promises to us. Through that word and sacrament that we hear and receive, the Lord is at work creating, strengthening and preserving faith. This is the heart of love and compassion that the Lord has and shows us. INJ