God With Us: 2022

Saturday, December 31, 2022

Blessed are the Poor in Spirit

(Part 1 of a series of 9 articles on the Beatitudes)

by Pastor Paul Wolff

“Seeing the crowds, (Jesus) went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’” (Matthew 5:1-3)

Blessed are the poor in Spirit
(Matthew 5:3)
Image from a Mosaic in the
Saint Louis Cathedral, St. Louis, Missouri

The beginning of Christ’s Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:1-12 is called the Beatitudes. We don’t hear that word much in everyday conversation, but beatitudes are blessings, and blessings are gifts. These gifts are special because they come from God. Jesus gives a list of blessings that God gives His beloved children, but if you read what type of things that Jesus says is blessed in His Sermon on the Mount, you will see that these are gifts that no one really asks for, and wouldn’t want – except for the fact that they are blessed by God. Because of this, Christians are happy to receive them as true gifts of God.

The first beatitude is: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3) No one wants to be poor, but this isn’t talking about worldly wealth and riches. Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” These are Spiritual blessings, and those who are blessed here are people who recognize that they are poor in the Spiritual realm. They have nothing to give God Spiritually, because they are sinners who deserve only God’s wrath and punishment. This is true for all of us, but not all people recognize their Spiritual poverty. The people who are blessed by this Beatitude would certainly receive God’s condemnation unless another arrangement were made. Fortunately for us, Jesus has made another arrangement so that instead of punishment, we receive the blessings of God’s kingdom. Another way to say this is that these are repentant sinners who recognize their poverty of Spirit and know that they must rely on God to rescue them through Jesus Christ.

Jesus once taught people from a boat on the lake.
(see Matthew 13, Mark 4, and Luke 5)

In Luke’s Gospel he records Jesus teaching on the plain, where He gives similar blessings as He did in the Sermon on the Mount. In Luke 6:20 Jesus says, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” Though on the surface it may seem as if Jesus is commanding His people to be poor, but that interpretation really has it backwards. Because of our sin, we are all poor already. Those who are rich are just fooling themselves, thinking they are something when they are not. Saint Paul writes to Timothy, “Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (1 Timothy 6:6-10) It is because of our sin that we have nothing to offer God. All the money in the world cannot save you because it all belongs to God. It is also because of our sin that we are subject to death. All that we have is a gift from God, and there comes a time in all our lives when we must give it all back. “You can’t take it with you,” is a saying which paraphrases Saint Paul’s words to Saint Timothy. Yet, we can be content with what we have because Christians trust that God gives us the “daily bread” which we ask for in the Lord’s Prayer, as Jesus taught us to pray (Matthew 6:9-13). Because Jesus told us to ask for this, we trust that God provides for our needs every day.

James 2:5 says, “Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?” Christians are “rich in faith” because Christ has promised us the inheritance of God’s Kingdom. Though this is not a worldly gift, we trust that this heavenly gift is ours because God has promised to give us this inheritance through faith in Jesus. Jesus said, “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32) We may not be rich in this world, but God still provides us all with good things, and He has promised to share with us all the riches of His Kingdom, which is eternal. So we live by faith, and trust that God’s promises are more sure than anything that we may hold in our hands. God’s heavenly Kingdom is already ours by faith, but we must wait to see its fulfillment.

A good example in Holy Scripture of someone who is “poor in spirit” is the character of the tax collector in Christ’s Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (See Luke 18:9-14). The tax collector was in God’s house looking for God’s blessings, but he was so ashamed of his sin that he wouldn’t even raise up his head, and he simply prayed, “God be merciful to me, a sinner.” Jesus said he was the one who went home justified (forgiven), because he repentantly recognized his poverty of Spirit, and looked to God to save Him.

The opposite of “Poor in Spirit” would be something like “proud in spirit” or “self-righteous.” A good example of this is the Pharisee in Christ’s parable. He was boastful before God because he thought that he was so good that he had something to offer God. He was wrong, of course, but he thought he was so good that God had to be pleased with him. He didn’t recognize the guilt of his sin and how much he deserved God’s condemnation, so he did not repent, nor did he look to God to save him. This is why both John the Baptist and Jesus were so harsh in dealing with unrepentant Pharisees. The Pharisees weren’t bad people in the civil sense, but they were (generally speaking) unrepentant unbelievers. They needed to hear God’s Law to recognize their sin, and the true poverty of their spirit, and their need for God to save them.

Jesus said to the Pharisees, who did not believe in Him, “Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits.” (Matthew 21:43) The Pharisees admitted among themselves that they didn’t believe in Jesus (Matthew 21:25). This is why Jesus told the Parable of the Wicked Tenants against them. They didn’t want to be God’s people, and follow Him. They wanted to be in charge themselves. They were not producing the fruits of faith, because they did not have faith themselves. The fruits of faith are love, which is the good works done in obedience to God’s commandments. The Pharisees were too busy trying to save themselves that they did not do good to others. It is a paradox that those who are “poor in Spirit” are rich in good works, and those who think themselves “rich in Spirit” are poor in good works. Hebrews 11:6 tells us, “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Repent of your sins and seek God in the Holy Scriptures because that is where God has revealed Himself, and there is where God’s Holy Spirit comes to you to bring you salvation, and God’s Kingdom.

Jesus was not so proud of Spirit
that He wasn’t willing to
suffer and die on the cross to save sinners,
and give us the blessings of His Kingdom.

Jesus was poor in Spirit, but not quite in the same way that we are. We are humble because we are sinners who rightly are subject to God’s condemnation, and desperately need God to save us. Jesus had no sin, so He could rightly claim innocence before God, but He was certainly not “proud in spirit” so God the Father was pleased with Him in all things. Jesus knew He was innocent, and He never admitted to any sin which He did not commit, but He also never boasted that He was better than anyone else because of His holiness. Martin Luther explained that one who is “poor in spirit” “must not set his confidence, comfort, and trust on temporal goods, nor hang his heart upon them and make Mammon his idol.” * Jesus was not proud, and never made an idol of any created thing, but loved God with His whole heart, soul, mind, and strength in all that He did – and, in putting that into action in His life, Jesus also served us sinners in everything He did.

Saint Paul describes Christ’s humility this way in Philippians 2:5-8: “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness … and became obedient to death, even death on a cross.” Jesus was equal to the Father in all things including power, glory, and all His being. However, He humbled Himself as a man to win our forgiveness and salvation. During His life and ministry, Jesus gave up all the honor, glory and riches which rightly belonged to Him as the Son of God, so that He could offer His life as the atoning sacrifice which would provide forgiveness and salvation to all who trust in Him to save them. The result of Christ’s humbling Himself like this is described by Saint Paul in this way: “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11) Jesus did not exalt Himself as a man, but God, the Father, exalted Him (as a man) for His faithful obedience and for winning our salvation.

The blessings that repentant sinners receive is that the Kingdom of heaven is given to them. What this means is that they are welcomed into God’s heavenly kingdom as beloved children who have been washed clean of their sins through the blood of Jesus. The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all our sin (1 John 1:7) because death is the punishment for sin, and Jesus died in our place as our substitute. Through holy Baptism and faith we are adopted back into God’s family as His beloved children, and, having been washed clean of all sin, we will get to enjoy the full blessings of the kingdom of heaven. There we will live in eternal blessedness and peace with God, and all our needs of body and soul will be provided for us by God.

Thursday, December 29, 2022

The Opposite of Murder

(Part Three in a Series on the Fifth Commandment)

by Pastor Paul Wolff

Jesus restored life to the daughter of Jairus
after she had died.
(Luke 8:40-56)
Photo of woodcut from Valparaiso University Chapel

The opposite of death is life. What is the opposite of murder? If murder is the taking of life, then the opposite is the giving of life. Can you give life to another? A father and mother do give life to their child, and that is truly a great gift from God in so many ways. This is the opposite of murder, but that is a one-time event. What if that child loses his life or has it taken away? Can anyone give him his life back, or give him new life? Such a thing is impossible in this world. Once your life is gone or taken away, it cannot be returned or restored. This is why the sin of murder is considered so evil, and why the sin of murder is different than most other sins.

Martin Luther’s explanation to the Fifth Commandment in the Small Catechism says, “We should fear and love God that we may not hurt nor harm our neighbor in his body, but help and befriend him in every bodily need.” This shows us that there is more to keeping the Fifth commandment than simply refraining from murdering your neighbor. God also requires that we help preserve and protect our neighbor’s body and life. Luther got this from several places in Scripture, but it is taught most clearly in Christ’s Sermon on the Mount where Jesus taught, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.” (Matthew 5:21-22) Here Jesus shows that God’s concern for life isn’t just a sharp distinction between life and death, but is much more involved. We must help our neighbor whenever we can. When God confronted Adam’s son, Cain, about the whereabouts of his brother, Abel, Cain replied, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Cain was the elder brother, and should have been watching out for his brother and keeping his life protected, instead he murdered his brother (more on this in an upcoming article in my Biblical Vignettes on Murder series). We all should keep our neighbor’s life safe from harm as we are able (pun intended).

Jesus never committed murder, and He also did even more in the positive sense to obey God’s command against murder. When Jesus began His ministry and revealed Himself as the Christ (Messiah), the Son of God, He also began to miraculously heal many people from all kinds of afflictions. Jesus healed the lame, and those suffering from all kinds of illnesses. He restored hearing and sight to those who were deaf and blind. In doing this, Jesus not only showed His divine power as God in the flesh, but He showed great love and concern for the life and well-being of all kinds of people. Jesus also raised several people back to life who had died. This is definitely the opposite of murder.

Jesus Restored life to Lazarus
after he had been in the grave four days.
(See John 11)

During His earthly ministry Jesus restored life to several people who had lost theirs. Jesus restored life to the daughter of Jairus (Luke 8:40-56), the widow’s son in the town of Nain (Luke 7:11-17), and Lazarus of Bethany, who had been dead four days when Jesus called him out of his grave (John 11). In all these ways Jesus actively obeyed the commandment against murder, and fulfilled God’s Law.

Jesus didn’t stop there, however. It still was not enough for Jesus to restore health and life to a few sinners who had lost theirs. Every one of those people whom Jesus healed and raised from the dead also died later. These miracles were temporary solutions, but that wasn’t all Jesus did for us. He did much more. Jesus wanted to provide a permanent solution and cure for sin, sickness, and death, so He offered His life to God, the Father, in payment for the sins of the world. Because Jesus is the beloved Son of God who is sinless and perfect in every way, God, the Father, accepted the sacrifice of Jesus as full payment for the sins of all people of all time. By giving His life as payment for the sins of the world, Jesus also destroyed the power of death. Death is the ultimate consequence of sin, but Jesus died to pay for the sins of all people. Since the price for our sin has already been paid, we no longer have to die. Yes, there is still temporal death, which is a consequence of sin, and which must come to all sinners (except for those still alive on earth when Jesus returns on the last day), but this temporal death is now only temporary. In Acts 3:15 Saint Peter preached to the Jews after Christ’s resurrection, and told them that Jesus was the “author of life” – referencing His divine nature as God, the creator of all things, including people. The irony of Peter’s post-resurrection sermon wasn’t just that they killed the “author or life”, but that the “author of life” willingly gave up His life to redeem the lives of sinful people such as those who killed Him.

Since Jesus has overcome sin and death, when Jesus returns on the last day He will raise to life all people who have ever died on earth – from the first person to die, Abel (Son of Adam and Eve), to the last person to die before Christ’s return. This resurrection will not be temporary, like the raising of Lazarus (and the others), but it will be an eternal resurrection. For all who believe and trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins the resurrected life will be a glorious life in paradise as God’s beloved children – adopted back into the family by Christ. For all who reject and despise Jesus and His work and gift of forgiveness and salvation for them, their resurrected life will be an endless hell of torment, suffering, and pain. Jesus paid for the sins of all people and provides salvation for all as a free gift, but those who reject the gift through unbelief do not benefit from it at all through their rejection. I believe a large part of the torment of the damned is that Jesus gave them forgiveness and eternal life as a free gift, and they rejected life in favor of death (their remaining torment is that they continue to hold on to their sin and hate God, though He is holy and completely good – so they are stuck with sin and death forever by their own choice).

We cannot give life and healing as Jesus did, but we can do what we are able to help preserve and protect our neighbor’s life. We can start by praying for our neighbor’s good welfare (including our enemies). We can also speak up to defend our neighbor against those who would harm them. Also, if we are able, or have special training, we can give aid and comfort to those whose life and health are endangered.

Another depiction of Jesus raising
Jairus' Daughter from the dead.
See Mark 5:22-24, 35-43

Jesus is the opposite of murder because He is the source of life, the salvation of those who are dying and those who are dead, and the giver of life everlasting. In John 5:19-21 Jesus taught, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.” Jesus shows the nature of the Triune God as a loving God who desires the forgiveness and salvation of sinners so much that He would become incarnate as a man, and live and die to pay the price of death for sin so that whoever believes in Him would not perish in their sins, but would have eternal life in paradise with Him. This is not just a temporary opposite of murder, but a permanent life – the eternal opposite of murder, and the opposite of all death. Through faith in Jesus we will be restored by Him to be what God intended us to be (i.e. sinless and holy) to live an eternal, life without sin, suffering, and death.

“The Jews gathered around (Jesus), saying, ‘How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.’ Jesus answered, ‘I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:24-30) Jesus gives life because He has paid the price to redeem all sinners. This is the perfect opposite of murder, because through His life and death, Jesus undoes the effects of sin and death. Jesus then freely gives forgiveness of sins through faith, and gives eternal life to all who listen to His voice and trusts in Him for forgiveness and salvation. Jesus does this because Jesus is equally God with the Father and the Holy Spirit, and it is God’s will that we trust in Him and are saved from our sin to live forever with Him.

There is so much more in the Holy Bible about God’s work as the opposite of murder that this article could go on for many pages, but I will deal with some of them in later articles in this series.

Articles in this series:

You Shall Not Murder

The True God Cannot Murder

Sunday, December 25, 2022

The Holy Family

by Pastor Paul Wolff

The Holy Family
Window from Epiphany Lutheran Church,
Detroit, Michigan
(Now closed)

This past year (2022) my wife and I have been blessed to see our extended family grow. On the day of Epiphany we rejoiced at the birth of our fifth granddaughter. Then, not quite eleven months later, we rejoiced again at the birth of her niece, our first great-granddaughter. I don’t know what the deal is with all the girls. Statistically, you would expect out of six children born to the younger generations three would be girls and three would be boys. Children, aren’t born by statistics, however, and our grandchildren are all beautiful women and girls, and we thank God for all of them.

Children are truly a blessing from God, despite what the world may think of them. King Solomon wrote, “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!” (Psalm 127:3-5) This blessing goes all the way back to the creation of the world where God created mankind as a husband and his wife and blessed them, saying “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:28) This blessing was given before the fall into sin, but God blessed Adam and Eve with children even after they rebelled against Him, but He also promised to send a Savior to rescue them all from their sin. God also repeated His blessing to Noah and his sons after God rescued them from the great flood, saying“Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” (Gen 9:1) Even though every person ever born on earth (except Jesus) has been born a sinner, God still blesses families with children, and has provided salvation for all of us through Jesus. This is the reason why we celebrate with joy the birth of Jesus, and why it is also important to remember the Holy Family at Christmas (and at other times when we celebrate God’s gifts of new members to our family).

The Holy Family
at the Nativity of Christ
This is not the real Holy Family, but a lifelike representation
(compared to the other images in this article).

It is significant that when God became incarnate He came into a young family. In American culture, we would say today that Mary and Joseph were engaged to be married, because the marriage had not been consummated. In Jewish culture of that time, respectable people (like Joseph and Mary) would be legally married for a year – while living apart – before they consummated the marriage. You should note, too, that this practice was not only for prominent wealthy people, but also for laborers, like carpenters. It didn’t matter if Joseph was a skilled master carpenter or an unskilled laborer. People of all social classes would demonstrate their integrity by waiting a year before consummating the marriage, thus showing that they had not engaged in physical intimacy with each other. This not only gave them time to prove they were chaste and hadn’t been unfaithful, but it also gave them time to solidify their lifelong commitment to one another, and to the new family that they were creating.

God could have chosen an unmarried virgin to bear God’s Son, but that is not how God works. God, in His wisdom, created marriage and family for a purpose and He blesses families. In an intact family, the children know the love of both their father and their mother (see the Fourth Commandment – Exodus 20:12). This is God’s good plan, and though in this sinful world, this is not always possible, it is what we should strive for at all times. Besides, as God planned it, we have the “holy family” to look up to and try to make our own families holy also. We do this through repentance and forgiveness of one another when we sin against one another – as we inevitably will. If God had become incarnate through an unmarried woman, then Christians would idealize unmarried mothers and that would necessarily result in all kinds of chaos, like we see in pagan America today: children growing up in broken families feeling unloved and disobeying authorities and getting involved in drugs and crime. Our prisons are overwhelmingly populated with children of broken families.

The Holy Family
Window from Holy Cross Lutheran Church,
Detroit, Michigan
(Now closed)

As it is, Joseph and Mary belong together, and we ought to try to emulate their purity and faithfulness. Though, I should say here that the “pious” idea of Mary’s lifelong virginity is pure wickedness. That would make her a lousy wife to withhold herself from her husband (see 1 Corinthians 7:1-5). Mary is perpetually a virgin in our memory because we perpetually remember her as “the blessed virgin”, or the “virgin mother”. We do this because Mary was still a virgin until after Jesus was born (see Matthew 1:18-25). This is important because it testifies to the fact that Jesus is the Son of God, not the physical son of Joseph or any other sinful man, though Jesus lived as the son of Joseph, and was named as such (see Luke 2:48; Luke 3:23; Luke 4:22; Matthew 13:55; John 1:45; and John 6:42). There is no confusing the Blessed Virgin Mary with anyone else because never before and never again will a virgin conceive and bear a child. We also see in Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3 that the brothers of Jesus are named and the Gospel writers make note that they have sisters, also. The most plain (and best) interpretation of this is that these are the natural children of Joseph and Mary. There is no reason to doubt that – either historically, or exegetically, or theologically.

The “holy family” is considered holy because Jesus is holy. Joseph and Mary were sinners in need of Jesus to save them from their sins. In the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55) Mary calls God, “my savior” (v. 47). Yet, despite the fact that Joseph and Mary were just like everyone else, they were also faithful, pious believers. As a young married couple, they were chaste and pure. When Joseph learned Mary was pregnant, he knew he was not the father, and though he was not (at first) willing to believe what Mary must have told him about what the angel said, he could have intended to have her stoned for adultery, but instead he planned on divorcing her quietly and not subjecting her to public disgrace. Then, when God told Joseph in a dream that all Mary had told him was true (see Matthew 1:20), he believed and kept the family intact. Joseph later protected Mary and Jesus by taking them to Egypt after Herod sought to kill the child, who was the true King of Judah (see INRI).

The Holy Family
Window from Emmanuel Lutheran Church,
Dearborn, Michigan

The world despises children because it takes sacrificial love to properly raise a child. Selfish pagans idolize themselves and do not care to expend the love and time and money it takes to provide for a child’s needs of body, soul, and mind. Parents must sacrifice to provide for their children’s needs, but that is what people were made for. It is very rewarding to raise a child and give him or her the necessary skills and resources necessary to become a respectable, productive member of society. It is even more rewarding for Christian parents to raise a child who loves God and his neighbors, and trusts in Jesus to save him from his sins. Parents who have done a good job raising children can be justifiably proud that their children are admired and respected by their neighbors and friends, and are valued members of society who care for those whom they deal with every day. This is something that selfish unbelievers who despise and murder their children (see my article on Molechianism) will never fully know because they idolize themselves, and they are unfulfilled because sooner or later their false gods will fail them.

No family is perfect, however, because all members of families are sinners. Even the holy family must have had its struggles and difficulties. The presence of Jesus did not change the sinful nature of Joseph and Mary, nor of His brothers and sisters. The story of the boy Jesus in the temple at age 12 (Luke 2:40-51) shows us that as the years went by, Joseph and Mary seem to have taken for granted that Jesus was the Son of God, and just thought of Him as a normal boy – which He was. There seems nothing out of the ordinary in the way that they deal with Him, as their son. They do show a high level of trust in Him, as they weren’t particularly worried that He wasn’t with them for a time. They assumed that Jesus was with others in their group (v. 44) as they traveled back up north, and they trusted Him not to be disobedient. Jesus always obeyed them perfectly, as an obedient son, but somehow not in a way that drew attention to Himself – so they trusted Him. Though, Mark 3:20-34 describes a situation where Christ’s family (specifically, His mother and brothers) thought Jesus was out of His mind, but Jesus kept teaching what He had been teaching because He was doing what He was supposed to do, and few others understood what it was all about. They thought Jesus suicidal for calling the leaders to repentance, and not heeding the threats against His life. Jesus was not suicidal, and at various times had to walk away from imminent threats to His life before His work was finished (See John 6:15 and Luke 4:24-30), but neither did He try to save Himself when the time came for Him to give His life to pay the price for the sins of the world (see Matthew 27:12-14). Some of the people who heard Christ’s teaching understood after He died and rose to life again, but others never did.

Glory to God in the Highest
Jesus is born in Bethlehem
(I forget where this window is from.
This is a scan of an old film photograph.)

It seems strange to the world that God would become a man simply for the purpose of suffering and dying a shameful death on a cross. It is no wonder that Christ’s family thought Him out of his mind. That kind of love doesn’t make sense to our selfish, sinful flesh, but God’s love is perfect, and we see perfect love in the life and death and resurrection of Jesus. That is why we celebrate Christmas, and why we celebrate more on Good Friday and on Easter Sunday. God is the only one who can save us from the guilt of our sin, and rescue us from sin’s consequences. So God became a man in Jesus to redeem us from sin and death. This is perfect love in action – that God would live and die to save His disobedient people, so that He could make us holy to live with Him forever.

This Christmas may Christ bless your family as you contemplate the Holy Family. May you love one another as Christ has loved you. May you forgive the sins that your family members commit against you, as Christ has forgiven all your sins. May father and mother be strengthened in love and commitment to one another, and may children give thanks to God continually for the blessings of their family.

Psalm 144:9-15 (NIV)

I will sing a new song to you, O God;

on the ten-stringed lyre I will make music to you,

to the One who gives victory to kings,

who delivers his servant David from the deadly sword.

Deliver me and rescue me from the hands of foreigners

whose mouths are full of lies, whose right hands are deceitful.

Then our sons in their youth will be like well-nurtured plants,

and our daughters will be like pillars carved to adorn a palace.

Our barns will be filled with every kind of provision.

Our sheep will increase by thousands,

by tens of thousands in our fields;

our oxen will draw heavy loads.

There will be no breaching of walls,

no going into captivity,

no cry of distress in our streets.

Blessed are the people of whom this is true;

blessed are the people whose God is the Lord.

Here are my other Christmas-themed articles from this blog:

What was Jesus like as a Boy?

Come, Lord Jesus!

God’s Justice and Mercy at Christmas

Justice at Christmas

Christmas Peace is Forever

Is Christmas Offensive?

Christ is for You

God is With Us

Does Jesus Sing?

The Incarnation of God

Magi

Shepherd Visitors

Don’t Make Me Come Down There!

Thursday, November 24, 2022

The True God Cannot Murder

(Part Two in a Series on the Fifth Commandment)

by Pastor Paul Wolff

God Gave the Ten Commandments
so we would know what is good and right.

You will sometimes hear atheists asking a rhetorical question which goes something like, “If God is so good, then how can he allow so much suffering and death in the world?” They may give some example of a situation where a number of innocent people were killed by evil people, or they will more likely mention a “natural disaster” or an “act of God” where many people die through no fault of their own, or of anyone else. These questions assume that God is unjust in allowing such tragedies to happen, or that God is unwilling or unable to stop evil, or that somehow God is the cause of such evil, and so is evil himself. Atheists love to ask such questions because they assume that God is evil, and they are good and holy. They assume this because they are the ones judging God and imagining that they find Him guilty. This way of thinking also absolves them (though only in the delusion of their own thoughts) of their murderous desires, thoughts and actions. If people think God is guilty of murder then they will feel free to do the same.

In truth, the One, True God cannot commit murder. The only true God is the Triune God – One God in three persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit. It is important, however, to understand that murder is the unjust taking of life. God may take someone’s life, but He is always just and righteous in doing so. Since God is the creator of everything and everyone He makes the rules which we must follow, and since He is the redeemer who paid for the sins of all mankind we know that God’s rules are good and are for our benefit. God is not the origin or source of sin and evil. Some of God’s good angels fell into sin and became demons first, and one of them lured Adam and Eve into sin through wicked temptation. As our creator and redeemer, God is intimately involved in the life and death of everyone who has ever lived in the history of the world, and all who will ever live to the end of the world. Yet, it is against God’s nature to commit murder. This is why God gave us the Fifth Commandment (as Lutherans, and most other Christians, count the Commandments), “You shall not murder.” God gave us this commandment because He does not murder, and so that we also would not murder.

Sinful people commit murder because, since the fall into sin, our nature has been corrupted, and it is now in our nature to murder. God did not create people to murder, nor has God ever murdered anyone. God created Adam and Eve in His image, which meant that they were holy and pure and immortal, as God is. However, when they rebelled against God they corrupted their nature with sin, and brought condemnation and death on themselves, and all their descendants. Once people rebelled against God, they were no longer holy, pure, nor immortal. In this way murder (and every other sin) is “natural”, though that doesn’t make it right. The “natural” nature of sin (including murder) actually makes it wrong.

Adam and Eve brought sin into the world,
including murder.

God had warned Adam and Eve that the penalty was death for disobeying God’s simple command. He said, “You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” (Genesis 2:17) Once they broke God’s good, simple command, God was justified for putting sinners to death. Yet, God had mercy on Adam and Eve, and out of love He did not put them to death the day they rebelled against Him, as He could rightly have done, but instead, He promised to send them a savior who would rescue them (and their descendants) from their sins and make everything right again. That promise was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Adam and Eve lived a good, long life (for sinners – though it was infinitely shorter than it would have been had they never sinned against God) and they brought life into the world through their children. Though, Adam and Eve’s first born son also became the first murderer. Cain’s murder of Abel showed clearly that the corruption of sin is something we all inherit from our parents, going all the way back to Adam and Eve.

It is not God who murders ever, it is always people. Even when God does bring about the immediate death of someone it is always justified, since death is the result of sin, and we are all sinners. Life is a gift from God which we don’t deserve, but it is something which He graciously gives to us for a time. The reason there is so much sorrow and tragedy in the world is because of our sin, not because God is cruel and unjust.

God sent Adam and Eve out of Eden
so they would not eat of the
Tree of Life and live forever as sinners.
But He also promised Salvation through
the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

In a strange way , temporal death is a blessing from God, and not a curse, even though it is a result of sin. Living forever in sin is just about as good a definition of hell as anything else, though the true hell is much worse than life in this sinful world, because in hell there is no hope of rescue or relief or salvation. In this life God gives us all good gifts (even to all evil people), and there is always the possibility of salvation, so this life is not hell, even on our worst day. Remember that in the account of the fall into sin in Genesis 3, God put Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden after their fall so that they would not eat of the tree of life and live forever as sinners. This was done out of mercy, but God also promised to send a savior as the “seed” of Eve who would redeem them of their sins and “crush the head” of the serpent whose lies led them into sin and death. This promise was fulfilled in the life and death of Jesus Christ. Everyone who repents of their sin and trusts in Jesus to save them has the salvation which He won for them in His life and death. All who believe in Jesus are saved from sin and death, and we do not need to fear death, because we know that even if we die there is life and salvation in Christ when He returns to fulfill all He has promised.

Some may wonder about God’s judgment of the world in the great flood where only eight people in the whole world survived out of a population which could have been as many as one million. Did God murder a million people? The answer is no. God is holy and His judgments are just and right. God is our creator and He sets the rules. If He says, “Obey my commands or die” then we are condemned if we disobey the good rules that He created us to keep. When we die it is our own fault for disobeying the good commands of God. God does not murder. God is slow to anger and merciful (See Exodus 34:6-7). He forgives all who repent, but when stubborn people refuse God’s mercy, His anger is inescapable. When God kills, it is always righteous. We may not like His decisions, but no one can rightly accuse God of murder, especially when God is holy and innocent, and we all are sinful and murderous. We are even less able to accuse God of murder and wrongdoing when God provided for the free salvation (through faith) of all murderers and sinners through the life and death of Jesus Christ. Those who are so bold as to falsely accuse God of murder are selfish idolaters in the highest degree. (For more information on this subject, see my August 2017 article “Why Does God Condemn Unbelievers to Hell?”)

Jesus taught Nicodemus about
who God is and what He has done to save
us all from our sins.

When anyone dies God is there to receive their soul, and to judge the state of that soul. If that person is a believer in Christ who belongs to God and has received forgiveness through faith in Jesus, then that soul rests in heavenly peace until the resurrection of all flesh. If that person is an unbeliever who has rejected Christ, then that soul lives in torment until the resurrection of all flesh. God is not capricious or cruel. God, Himself has provided forgiveness and salvation for all people. There is no reason why anyone should be condemned. If anyone is condemned to eternal death and torment, then it is because of their own choice to reject Christ’s forgiveness. Jesus said in John 3:18 “Whoever believes in [God’s Son] is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

This is all a matter of faith. This does not mean that there isn’t plenty of evidence of God’s mercy, forgiveness, and love; but our corrupted sinful nature is often blinded to God’s goodness, professing to think that we are righteous instead of sinful. Thus, we have to deny our fleshly desires which think that God is cruel or evil, and trust in God’s Word that He is merciful and forgiving, and the redeemer and savior of sinners. God’s nature and love are only revealed to us in the Holy Scriptures. Each of us only knows God as we know Him through His Word in the Holy Bible. Those who reject His Word do not know God, and cannot know Him as He truly is. This is why we all ought to treasure the Holy Scriptures as God’s Word, and read and study them daily – so that we can know God’s love and trust that “… in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) God is not cruel and cannot murder. God is the living God who gives life and forgiveness to us who are dead in our trespasses and sins.

Jesus teaches that the devil is the
“father of lies” and a “murderer from the beginning.”
John 8:44

I should note here that false gods do commit murder. You may ask, “How can a false god, who doesn’t exist, murder anyone?” The answer here is that it isn’t the false god who murders, but those who invent and perpetuate the mythology of the false god. Some false gods are created weak so that they can be manipulated by the people to do what they want, and so it gives the impression that they have power over “god”. Yet these false gods still murder because they lead people away from their salvation in Jesus, because all who trust in false gods have rejected God’s salvation in Jesus, and they are lost and condemned. Other false gods are created to make them seem impressive and powerful. Sometimes the more frightening and powerful the false god seems, the more control the religious leaders have over their people. Some false religions have the concept of a “holy war” where the religious leaders assemble armies to murder their neighbors and take their possessions. All this is done in the name of their god, but the effect of it is that when it is successful the religious leaders gain wealth through stolen goods, property, and slaves. Wherever false gods allow murder you will find murderers.

I have found that people always try to be like their God, whether it is the true God or false gods. If people think their god is peaceful and kind, then they try to be peaceful and kind. If their god is a blood-thirsty tyrant, then they become tyrants and murderers. When false gods lead people to murder, this is from the devil. Since the devil hates God and all those whom God loves (i.e. you and me), he uses his lies to turn people into murderers to kill people and cause chaos and bloodshed. This is total wickedness. If one can be objective it is easy to see that false gods are more like the devil than the true God. The trouble is that it is hard to be objective where our belief in God (or even a false god) is concerned. Jesus shows us what the true God is really like. Jesus never murdered anyone, but instead healed people who were sick and injured, and He raised several people from the dead. This is the opposite of murder. (See my article on The Opposite of Murder.)

Articles in this series:
You Shall Not Murder
The Opposite of Murder

Thursday, August 25, 2022

You Shall Not Murder

(Part One in a Series)

by Pastor Paul Wolff

God first wrote the commandments
in our hearts.
But after the fall into sin
God wrote them on stone tablets
which He gave to Moses and the Israelites
at Mount Sinai.

The sin of murder is considered to be the worst sin that a person can commit against another. Though you have to wonder, since murder is so bad, then why is it so popular? And why is murder seemingly gaining in popularity (at least in America and several other places around the world)? As I was researching this topic I saw a news story which said that murders in the United States were up 30% in 2020 over the previous year. Though 2020 was a chaotic year with all kinds of government leaders at many levels all around the world acting like tyrannical dictators. That kind of high profile lawlessness always leads to lawlessness at every level, and murder is the epitome of lawlessness.

All sin is equally evil in God’s eyes. God is holy and sinless, and He first made people holy and sinless as He is. All mankind was condemned to live in sin because of what was essentially Eve’s sin of thievery which was combined with coveting and idolatry (the underlying sin which leads to all other sins). However, that theft was full rebellion and rejection of God, and the equivalent of murder since it has so far led to the death of everyone born before 1903 (and hundreds of millions of people since then), though one man has risen from the dead and still lives.

God gave us the Fifth Commandment (as Lutherans and most other Christians count the Commandments), “You shall not murder,” because God is the “Living God.” God is called the “Living God” not just because He is alive, but because He is the source of all life, and the only one who can give life to the dead. God gave us the Fifth Commandment because He doesn’t want anyone killing the people whom He loves (including you, your neighbors, and your enemies). So we see that this commandment is good, as all of God’s commandments are good. You don’t want your neighbor murdering you, and neither does God – so God commanded “You shall not murder.”

The sin of thievery seems to be of lesser degree
than the irreversable sin of murder.
But both sins need Jesus to forgive them,
so we may be saved.

Although all sin is equally condemned in God’s eyes, there is something unique about the sin of murder. By contrast, we see in Luke 19 the tax collector, Zacchaeus, repented of his thievery (forbidden by the Seventh Commandment: “You shall not steal.”) and promised, “Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” (Luke 19:8) Zacchaeus was certainly a wicked sinner (though as I have written elsewhere simply being a tax collector was not one of his sins – see also Luke 3:12-13), but since his wickedness primarily consisted of thievery, he was able to pay back what he had stolen, with a little extra as penance to show the sincerity of his repentance, and compensate those he sinned against for their inconvenience. Such “penance” does not even begin to undo nor remove the guilt of the sin, but it shows the sincerity of the repentance, and it can help assuage the anger of the person you sinned against so that they may be less likely to murder you for your thievery. However, when one’s sin involves murder, then what is stolen cannot be returned for love, nor money. Once you take a person’s life, it is gone permanently, and can never be given back. This is somewhat unique in the second table of the Ten Commandments, and makes murder seem worse than other sins committed against other people.

You will sometimes hear people say, “… at least I am not a murderer.” You know that someone is trying too hard to justify their pet sins when they say this. Murder is a pretty low standard for anyone to measure up against. That person is actually saying, “I may be a dreadfully wicked person, but at least I am not the worst person (for now).” Of course, once you get to this point, the sin of murder (in one form or another) is likely to follow soon thereafter.

Despite the horrific nature of murder, there is no lack of examples of murder in the Bible. This shows the corrupting nature of sin. The first person born on the earth (after God created Adam and Eve) ended up murdering his younger brother. When I have taught the Ten Commandments I have noticed that sins against all the Commandments in the Second Table (and likely all of the Commandments in the First Table, also) can lead to murder. From this I have concluded that there are many different causes of the sin of murder, such as dishonoring parents and authorities, adultery, theft, lying, and covetousness. However, as I have studied the Holy Scripture further, I believe there is a single underlying foundational cause of murder which leads to all the other superficial immediate causes of this terrible sin.

Any sin against the Second Table of the Commandments can lead to murder because these sins are committed against our neighbor. Taken to the extreme, every sin can lead to murder because murder is the ultimate expression of the sins against your neighbor, including dishonoring parents and authorities, adultery, theft, lying, and covetousness. There are also the so-called “seven deadly sins” which are pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony, and sloth. Although not all of these are always sinful (there can be righteous anger, and possibly pride – though righteous pride is much more rare than you might like to believe), these all could be considered deadly because they can lead someone to murder, and they lead people to lose faith in Jesus or lead us to reject Christ’s forgiveness and salvation.

In the Parable of the Good Samaritan
The Priest and the Levite did not hurt the injured man,
but neither did they help him.

As we consider the Fifth Commandment we should recall Martin Luther’s teaching on the meaning of the Fifth Commandment. “We should fear and love God so that we do not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help and support him in every physical need.” Note that there are two parts: a negative and a positive part. We should first not hurt nor harm our neighbor in his body. This is the negative part. This is the wrong thing that we should not do. You should also note that what is forbidden is not only the extreme of murder, but God also forbids you from hurting or harming your neighbor in any way! However, as with all the commandments, there is also a positive good that we should do to keep this commandment. We should help and support our neighbor in every bodily need. It is not enough to avoid killing our neighbor with our own actions, but we must also help and protect our neighbor’s body and life. An example of this in Scripture is Christ’s Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). The priest and the Levite did not lay a finger on the man laying on the road to Jericho to hurt him, but neither did they lift a finger to help him after the robbers left him for dead. So, in God’s eyes, they were just as guilty of murder as the robbers who beat the man and took his possessions. In another article I will show how Jesus kept the Fifth Commandment by not only abstaining from murder, but by helping and healing those who were sick, injured, and dead.

Murder may have many immediate causes such as coveting, lust, greed, envy, hatred, and others. Yet underlying all of these immediate causes there is a fundamental sin which leads all these different causes to end up with the same result of murder. That fundamental murderous sin is an idolatrous selfishness which leads people to take into their own hands the power over life and death, which rightly belongs only to God. When someone begins to justify his pet sins in his own mind he is likely to forget God’s commandments and it is sometimes a short step to think that one’s own sinful desires are good and right. Once that happens, even the lives of others become secondary to what the sinful person desires. This is what we call “hatred”. I have shown elsewhere that no racist person begins by hating others. It can begin with something as seemingly innocent (though still wickedly sinful) as wanting what is best for a group that I identify with – over and against one or more groups that I don’t identify with. Sinful desires can grow into the same murderous hatred even though they have one of several different starting points. This is why we must repent of our sins early and often. Martin Luther suggests that we use our Baptism correctly if we remember our sinfulness daily and “drown” the old sinful nature through contrition (sorrow over sin) and repentance, trusting in Jesus to forgive our sins and give us what we need, even if it is not what we necessarily desire. If we delay repenting then those sinful desires grow into actual sins of word and deed, and can lead to murder long before we realize it.

In the days of Noah, God saw that
“the wickedness of man was great in the earth,
and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart
was only evil continually.” (Genesis 6:5)

Because God created us He knows full well how our hearts are set on evil, including murder. God didn’t create people to murder, but to appreciate His gift of life and also for husband and wife to create new life through their expression of love for one another. Though sin has corrupted all of this, life is still a gift from God for which we can rejoice and be thankful. Also, in history, God has used our murderous desires to accomplish our salvation. Because sinful people desire to be gods ourselves, we believe we have to get rid of the real God because to our eyes He “gets in the way”. In our sinful delusions, we think we are holy, but the ugly truth is immediately apparent when we are in the presence of true holiness. What God did was to become incarnate as a man, Jesus of Nazareth, and when the time was right He let sinful men do to Him what sinful men always wanted to do to God, which is: to murder Him. This accomplished our salvation because Jesus is truly an innocent man, but He allowed Himself to be killed as a substitute for us. Jesus took the guilt of our sin upon himself, and suffered death innocently in our place so that God’s wrath over our sin could be poured out upon Jesus, and we could be forgiven and (eventually) remade as the holy, eternal, people whom God intended for us to be in the first place. The poetic irony of using our murderous tendencies to accomplish our forgiveness and salvation and eternal life is amazing, and the love of God, which caused Him to live and die for us sinners, is so amazing and wonderful that we, who appreciate what He has done to save us, will literally love Him forever in return.

Despite the terrible finality of murder, God still forgives repentant murderers. Murder is a sin in God’s eyes, like any other sin. The number of murderers in hell is not an indication that God does not forgive murderers, but that the murderers feel so guilty that they despair and think their sin cannot be forgiven, and so they do not repent and seek God’s mercy and forgiveness. In this life we think we have to pay for our own mistakes, but the sin of murder is too big. This leads to despair, and an unrepentant attitude which leads to damnation. Murder is not unforgivable, but the guilty murderer must repent and trust in Jesus to forgive him or her.

Jesus is the Good Samaritan
who saved us sinners from death
at the great cost of His own suffering
and death on the cross.

Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ (a curse) is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.” (Matthew 5:21-22) This shows us that the sin of murder is more than just the extreme action of taking someone’s life. God gave us all life, and cares for our well being in every aspect of our life. This is why Martin Luther explained the Fifth Commandment as he did (see above).

Jesus did not murder, in any way, but helped His neighbors by healing them from all kinds of sickness, disease, injury, and even death. Then Jesus allowed wicked men to conspire against Him to have Him murdered. Jesus allowed them to murder Him as a sacrificial lamb so that He could take our place and suffer the wrath of God the Father for the sins of the world. Jesus did this so that you could be redeemed and rescued from sin and death.

Murder is a dreadful sin, and a terrible evil, but it is not unforgivable. Jesus died to pay the price to redeem murderers, as well as all sinners. If you are guilty of murder, or hatred, or neglect, or any other sin which breaks God’s commandment against murder, then repent and trust in Jesus to forgive these, and all your sins. It is a great comfort to know that the almighty and Holy God forgives even the sins of the worst sinners, that God may be praised and glorified forever for His great love and mercy.

Other Articles in this series:
The True God Cannot Murder
The Opposite of Murder

Saturday, December 31, 2022

Blessed are the Poor in Spirit

(Part 1 of a series of 9 articles on the Beatitudes)

by Pastor Paul Wolff

Thursday, December 29, 2022

The Opposite of Murder

(Part Three in a Series on the Fifth Commandment)

by Pastor Paul Wolff

Sunday, December 25, 2022

The Holy Family

by Pastor Paul Wolff

Thursday, November 24, 2022

The True God Cannot Murder

by Pastor Paul Wolff

Thursday, August 25, 2022

You Shall Not Murder

(Part One in a Series)

by Pastor Paul Wolff

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