God is With Us

by Pastor Paul Wolff

Emmanuel means “God is with us.”

God is with us in Jesus

God has always been with His people since He created Adam and Eve. Even when they rebelled against Him and became His enemy, He never abandoned them, but has kept all of us in His grace and providing for all our needs, especially the need for a savior from our sin. But, ever since God became incarnate in the person of Jesus Christ God has lived with us in a closer, and more wonderful way. In Jesus, God lives with us as a Man – sharing our flesh and blood, sharing our sorrows and joys, and sharing our pain and pleasures (except when we take pleasure in sin).

The one thing that Jesus does not share with us is the ultimate guilt of our sin. Jesus has taken the guilt of the whole world’s sin into Himself and carried it to the cross where He endured the punishment for all sin of all time and He took our guilt to the grave where it belongs. Then when Jesus arose to life from the dead we were freed from the guilt of our sins and heaven was opened to all who trust in Jesus as our Savior and God.

Jesus said, “God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.” (John 3:17) Jesus is with us to save us, not to condemn us – even though because of our sin we all only deserve condemnation. Even though Jesus ascended into heaven forty days after His resurrection from the dead, He is still with us. Immediately before He ascended into Heaven, Jesus said, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20) Heaven is not so far away from you as you may imagine. Jesus is nearby, closer than you may think.

Only one thing is needful. Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

Emmanuel: God is with us in His word. When Jesus sent His apostles out on a short mission trip He told them, “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” (Luke 10:16) When we hear faithful pastors preaching and teaching God’s Word we are hearing Jesus because He is there working through His Word to lead us to trust in Him and rely on Him to save us. God’s Word is powerful to work our salvation because God is here working in His Word. God spoke through the prophet Isaiah saying, “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:10-11)

Jesus was baptized to take on the guilt of our sins and wash us clean

Emmanuel: God is with us in Holy Baptism. Jesus commanded His followers to baptize and teach in order to make disciples and spread His kingdom throughout the world. Baptism is not just a symbol of washing, but it is true washing and rebirth by God, the Holy Spirit. St. Peter wrote, “Baptism … now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” Martin Luther showed that the power of Baptism is God working through His Word which is combined with the water to give us a new birth as children of God. (see John 3:5)

Jesus gives us His body and blood so he will be with us always.

Emmanuel: God is with us in the Lord’s Supper. Here again, Jesus combines the Word of His promise with the physical elements of bread and wine to bring forgiveness, life, and salvation to those who believe in Him. Regarding the bread and wine, Jesus said, “This is my body. … This is my blood … for the forgiveness of sins.” (see Matthew 26:26-29) Jesus is the God who is with us and who comes to us in the elements of the Lord’s Supper. This again is not just a symbol or representative of God’s presence. Jesus is truly present in His Body and Blood in the bread and wine of the Sacrament. This is for the benefit of believers – who receive what is graciously given, but because Jesus is bodily present in the Lord’s Supper it is also a curse for unbelievers who receive Christ’s body and blood, but do not believe it and so reject Jesus. This is why St. Paul taught, “Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.” (1 Corinthians 11:27-30)

Jesus was there for Zacchaeus to absolve him of his sins.

Emmanuel: God is with us through Holy Absolution. When Christians confess their sins to the pastor and the pastor forgives them we trust that forgiveness is the same as if Jesus Himself were standing there proclaiming our forgiveness. Jesus told His Apostles, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you. … Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.’” (John 20:21-23) Once again, Jesus is there working through His Word (and the pastors who properly speak it) to assure us that He has paid the price for our sins and rescued us from punishment.

Emmanuel: God is with us in times of persecution. The Christian life isn’t always wine and roses. Jesus told His disciples that they should expect persecution. He said, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.” (John 15:18-20)

Jesus is with us in death to give us everlasting life.

Those who say that the Christian should expect only success and prosperity are false teachers and heretics. Yet because Jesus is with us in so many ways the faithful Christians are given strength to remain in Christ even in the midst of the worst persecution. There are Christian martyrs suffering and dying for the faith even today in several parts of the world. In some ways it is easy to remain faithful in the face of persecution. Though no one wants to suffer and die, why would the Christian abandon their God who is with them and suffered and died for them, and turn to a false god who calls for his followers to become cruel murderers or terrorized slaves? This is how the terrorists will ultimately be defeated. It won’t happen through military strength and tactics – that’s their game. They eventually will see that they are following a false god and will repent and turn to Christ and be saved. Pray for the martyrs this Christmas and throughout the coming generation, that Jesus will strengthen them and protect them, and will work through their witness to convert their enemies that they may know Christ and His salvation and be saved.

Christ be with you this Christmas, and always!

What Do You Choose to Believe?

By Pastor Paul Wolff

Proverbs 23:23

Buy the truth, and do not sell it.

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John 20:26-29

A week later (Jesus’) disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

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Jesus Walks on the Sea

Issues Etc. frequently plays a sound clip of President Obama describing a person’s faith as “What one chooses to believe.” This is a politician’s way of describing religion, but it is a strange way of describing one’s faith.

What is it that you believe? There are only two categories of things that you can believe: Truth or Lies. Which do you believe?

Let’s first assume that you believe the truth. I trust that is a good assumption, but do you have to decide to believe the truth?: “Hmmmm, Am I going to believe the truth... or a lie?” If you have to decide to believe the truth then you are doing it wrong, and it is most likely an accident that you chose the truth. If you have to decide to believe the truth then sooner or later you will be seduced by the lie. It will happen. The devil works hard to make the lies seem more attractive than the truth, so if you have to decide to believe the truth, then eventually you will find the lie much more appealing and lose the truth for a lie.

Now, if you decide to believe a lie, then you are just a fool. Little more needs to be said about that except to note that this is different than people who mistakenly believe a lie. Sometimes people who don’t know the difference between the truth and a lie will believe the truth once they learn the truth, but people who choose to believe a lie will find it difficult to choose the truth.

It is hard to get through to people who choose to believe a lie because one can’t easily reason with them. They have rationalized and justified their choice, and they feel they must embrace the lies out of fear that the truth is somehow worse (though it never is). One can try to help people like this, but they don’t want to be helped and they resent the effort.

The Risen Christ appears to two men on the road  to Emmaeus. Window from Zion Lutheran Church, Columbus, Ohio

Christ’s apostle, Thomas, knew the truth. At the time of Christ’s resurrection he had been a Disciple of Jesus for about three years. Thomas had heard Jesus teaching. He had seen many miracles such as: Jesus walking on the water; Jesus feeding 5,000 people with five loaves of bread and two small fish; and Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.

Thomas had heard Jesus say plainly, “We are going up to Jerusalem … and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.” (Mk. 10:33-34)

When all this came to pass, the other ten apostles came to Thomas and told him, “We have seen the Lord!” Yet, Thomas did not believe.

It wasn’t that Thomas doubted. He willfully refused to believe. He said, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.” This was not doubt. This was stubborn unbelief.

Thomas thought he knew what life was and what death was, and this didn’t fit. He thought: You live – you die – then … No, that is all. That is what experience taught him. You have surely had the same experience. You may have heard some people claim to have come back from the dead in the hospital, but those people weren’t really dead. They were nearly dead. There is a big difference between nearly dead and dead. Nearly dead – you might be revived. Dead – and you cannot be revived.

Jesus was dead. Pontius Pilate’s soldiers made sure of that. After Jesus died they stuck a spear in His side to make sure that He really was dead. If Jesus had shown signs of life, then they would have broken His legs as they did to the other two. The spear pierced His lungs and water poured out, then it pierced His heart and blood poured out. He was dead. He was mutilated. He wasn’t coming back. At least, that is what Thomas thought. He was wrong.

When Jesus is involved – Life and Death don’t work as we expect them to, and honestly, when is Jesus NOT involved? Jesus is the Lord of Life and the Conqueror of death. Jesus didn’t have to appear to Thomas. He had appeared to the ten Apostles, and others. But Jesus had important work for Thomas to do and He didn’t want Him to have any doubts, nor to be a stubborn unbeliever.

Jesus knew that others would have the same concerns as Thomas: “How can I believe Jesus is raised from the dead when I haven’t seen Him?” Jesus would send Thomas into the world to preach the Gospel with authority, and ultimately, Jesus would ask Thomas to give his life in witness to the truth of the Gospel. So Jesus appeared to Thomas as He had with the other Apostles.

Jesus turns water into wine. Window from Zion Lutheran Church, Columbus, Ohio

You should note that Jesus didn’t appear to Thomas right away. Remember that in His glorified state, Jesus – even in His physical body – is omnipresent (present everywhere). When Thomas was telling the Ten, “... unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were …” Jesus could have tapped him on the shoulder then and said, “Thomas, see my hands and side. Stop doubting and believe.” But Jesus made Thomas wait one whole week. This gave the other Apostles time to try to convince him that they had seen Jesus alive. Though the Scriptures do not tell us all the conversations that went on between the Apostles, I don’t doubt that the phrase, “Doubting Thomas” was first used by the other apostles to tease Thomas about his stubborn unbelief.

Jesus didn’t tease Thomas. He just appeared in the locked room, as before, and said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Then Thomas believed and said to Jesus, “My Lord and my God!”

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Why did Jesus appear to Doubting Thomas? First it was out of love for Thomas. Jesus wanted Thomas to be certain that he trusted in a living savior – a flesh and blood savior who is also God! Second, Jesus appeared to the Apostles so that you also may believe through the eyewitness testimony of many people.

Jesus sent the Apostles to testify to the truth of Jesus’ resurrection and the forgiveness which He won for us on the cross. The Apostles, and many others, got to see Jesus alive, but we have to wait a little while before we see Him as they did. We have their eyewitness testimony written in the Holy Scriptures to know that Jesus is alive, and Jesus calls us blessed for believing before we have seen Him with our own eyes.

We also have pastors and teachers to teach us the Truth of God’s Word that we might receive the blessings of Christ’s forgiveness and salvation through faith. Jesus said, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” In his letter to the Romans (10:13-15) St. Paul tells us how and why Jesus has sent us men like these Apostles: “‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’”

What is the message the Apostles were sent to give? Jesus tells us in John 20:23, “If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” We call this the Office of the Keys. It is not that the church (or the pastor) forgives anyone they want to, but that they forgive according to Christ’s command. Faithful pastors forgive the sins of penitent sinners, and withhold forgiveness from sinners who do not repent.

Like Thomas, not everyone believes the message. Unlike Thomas, some wish to hold on to their sins, but we must not forgive them until they repent, lest they remain in their sins and perish through them. But to all who trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins they are completely forgiven, and shall receive eternal life — even as Jesus has risen from the dead to everlasting life.

Window from Zion Lutheran Church, Columbus, Ohio

The Apostle, Thomas, did not choose to be one of Christ’s disciples. Jesus chose him to be a disciple. It is possible that you believe that you chose to be a Christian, but that is not correct. Jesus chose you, too. Jesus said, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.” (John 15:16)

There is great comfort in not having to choose what to believe, but in simply believing the truth. If we had to choose, then we could choose the lie;  or we could choose the truth, but do it in the wrong way; or we could choose the truth and later change our mind and choose something else. The comfort of Christ doing it all for you is that there is no doubt. Christ has done all that is needed for your salvation, and simply asks you to believe the truth. “(Jesus) is the way and the truth and the life.” (John 14:6)

There are times when we all may doubt, or even be an unbeliever like Thomas was. Take comfort. The Christian faith is not a blind faith. Thomas saw Jesus alive after His death and touched Him, as did John and many more people. We have their eyewitness testimony. More than that, we have the testimony of the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures. We also have the testimony of Jesus Himself who gives His body and blood to us in the Sacrament of The Lord’s Supper. As Martin Luther taught, “(Jesus’) words, ‘Given and shed for you’ require all hearts to believe.” Blessed are you who have not seen, and yet believe.

Christ’s Blessings Through Wine

Jesus changes water into wine

John 2:1-11

A wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

“Dear woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.”

His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.

Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.

Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”

They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”

This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.

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I remember watching a television documentary years ago on the making of wine. They interviewed a man from the so-called “Bible-belt” in the Southern United States who said, “I’m almost ashamed that the first miracle of our Lord was changing water into wine.”

This man was wrong on at least two counts (probably more). He wasn’t “almost” ashamed, he was completely ashamed of Jesus. In the Bible, the Pharisees were ashamed of Jesus. Christians are never ashamed of Jesus (except while we are sinning). Next, though the Holy Scriptures condemn drunkenness in many places, they never give an absolute ban on drinking wine (or similar drinks). Instead, wine is described as a blessing from God, and as a sign of His grace and favor.

The Holy Bible is very clear that drunkenness is a sin against the Fifth Commandment (“You shall not murder.”) because it hurts the body that God gave you. “Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.” (Proverbs 23:20-21) Also, “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:18) There are also many examples in Scripture of those who have gotten drunk and have suffered because of it. Noah, and Lot (after the destruction of Sodom) are two examples. King David got Uriah drunk to try to cover up his own sins with Uriah’s wife (2 Samuel 11:13), though Uriah was more righteous when he was drunk than David was when he was sober.

Scriptures also show that wine is a blessing from God. “[Yahweh (the Lord), my God, makes] wine that gladdens the heart of man.” (Psalm 104:15) In addition to making man’s heart glad, the blessings of wine are used in the Old Testament to describe the blessings of heaven. “‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman and the planter by the one treading grapes. New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills. I will bring back my exiled people Israel; they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.’” (Amos 9:13-14)

Those who say that Christians should not drink wine or alcoholic beverages are adding new laws that God never spoke. They are like Eve, who said that God told them that they shouldn’t touch the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:3). God only told Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit (Gen. 2:16-17), but when Eve added to God’s Word it made her more vulnerable to fall for the devil’s temptation and lies.

Besides changing water into wine, Jesus did not refrain from drinking it either. This should be enough to show people that God does not forbid the moderate use of wine. However, our sinful flesh often looks for opportunities to justify itself, especially when we can pretend to be more righteous than God Himself. That is what the Pharisees were doing when they criticized Jesus for not observing the rules that they had added to God’s Word. Jesus noted their hypocrisy in Matthew 11:18-19 when He said, “For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.”’ But wisdom is proved right by her actions.” Jesus was certainly neither a glutton nor a drunkard, but because He didn’t follow the rules invented by the Pharisees they looked down on Him and thought they were better than Him, even though Jesus was obeying God’s law perfectly in every way.

Jesus ultimately fulfills the promise of the blessings of wine when He institutes the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper and gives His holy blood to those who drink the wine of the Sacrament. “Then [Jesus] took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom.’” (Matt. 26:27-29)

In this holy Sacrament Jesus joins Himself with us even after His ascension into heaven. Jesus is still “God with us” even as He is seated at the right hand of the Father and ruling all of God’s creation. Jesus has not abandoned us, but has given Himself to us through the ordinary means of wine in the Sacrament by the power of His Word. Through Christ’s blood in the wine, we receive the forgiveness of our sins that Christ has won for us on the cross. This is why the devil works so hard to demonize wine, even in the church, or to tempt us to misuse or abuse it. Satan doesn’t want us to enjoy the blessings of Christ’s forgiveness through the Lord’s Supper. However, Christ has given us a greater gift than we could possibly hope to receive. He has given us Himself. First, on the cross where Jesus exchanged His holy life for our sinful lives, and now He unites us to Himself through bread and wine that we may enjoy His gracious blessings both now and forever.