Number Symbolism in the Bible

by Pastor Paul Wolff

There seems to be different ways that people interpret symbolic numbers in the Holy Scriptures. I have studied the symbolic use of numbers in the Bible and I have found some very consistent interpretations for the numbers which make more sense than many interpretations I have heard. This is not to say that these interpretations are original to me, but that these are the best interpretations of how the Scriptures use numbers as symbols.

Not all the numbers in the Scriptures are used symbolically. A good part of the Scriptures are simple historical accounts and the numbers are simply counting things accurately without symbolism. A good example is the 153 fish (John 21:11) caught by the disciples after Christ’s Resurrection. There is no deep significance about this number except that it was a large number and the disciples must have felt the need to count them because they were impressed by this miracle that Jesus did for them. Another example is the seven days of creation. Although seven is used elsewhere symbolically, the creation account in Genesis 1 clearly describes each day as “evening and morning the (n^th) day” so this is not symbolic, but descriptive.

The proper interpretation of symbolic numbers is not difficult when you use a little common sense. When numbers are used symbolically they always refer to something concrete – something in history or everyday life that is easily recognizable as having something to do with a particular number. The numbers aren’t chosen at random, nor is there some great secret as to how the symbolic numbers get their meaning.

1 – The number “one” is not usually used symbolically. It is mostly used to describe a single solitary thing or person. When “one” is used symbolically it is used in much the same way as its descriptive use, which is to describe something or someone unique or particular. It is also used to describe unity of essence or purpose. I love it when the Old Testament describes God’s people acting under God’s direction “as one man,” which is to say that the whole people of God are acting to fulfill God’s Word as if they were all one person, or they are all together doing God’s work as he would do it.

God is described as “one,” which is descriptive, and not symbolic, even though God’s Triune nature (Father, Son and Holy Spirit – see “three” below) is shown even in the Old Testament. Right from Genesis 1:1 when the generic word for God is used to refer to the one true God it takes the plural form (“Elohim” usually means “gods”) but it takes masculine singular verbs. Also there is the triple “Holy” of Isaiah 6:3 “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory.” These are some ways the Old Testament testifies to the Triune character of God, yet there is still only one God – God is singular (“is” not “are”; & “His” not “their”).

from Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Detroit, Michigan

3 – The number “three” refers to God, or things having to do with God, when used symbolically in the Scriptures. For example, the three days Jonah was in the belly of the fish is descriptive, and not symbolic, but it is also used prophetically to point to the three days (also literal, and not symbolic) Jesus was in the tomb. However, even these examples can be viewed symbolically as the work of God to bring salvation. First, Jonah, himself, is saved from God’s wrath and drowning by the fish, then Jonah is sent to bring salvation to Nineveh, which all points forward to the work of Jesus to pay for the sins of the world by his death and burial. The three days being important so that Jesus fulfills the Sabbath day rest by being in the tomb for the whole Sabbath day (see “seven” below).

4 – The number “four” refers to the world, or creation, or mankind when used symbolically in the Bible. We can think of the four points of the compass (north, south, east, west) to describe the world.

6 – The number “six” is very interesting when used symbolically in the Scriptures. “Six” doesn’t seem to have a particular meaning on its own, but only in its relation to “seven” (see below). The symbolic use of “six” describes something incomplete – as if it were trying to reach “seven,” but missed the mark or fell short. The most famous symbolic use of “six” actually triples the digits to “666” in Revelation 13:18. The tripling of the digits suggests that this has something to do with God (see “3” above), but it falls short in every way. This makes sense in Rev. 13 because this number is the number of the blasphemous beast which was allowed to make war on God’s saints for a time. The number of the beast is “666” because he tries to portray himself as if he were God, but he misses the mark in every way. The world may follow the beast, thinking he is a god, but God’s people are not fooled (see Matthew 24:24).

7 – The number “seven” refers to Christ when used symbolically. “Seven” represents Christ because he is both God (“3”) and Man (“4”) in one person (3+4=7). John addresses his revelation letter to the seven churches not just because they are seven particular churches, but the Revelation of Jesus is to go to all Christians because the Christian church is Christ’s church. The comfort of the Revelation is for all who belong to Christ in the church, wherever they are.

Even in the creation we can see it pointing to Christ. Although the seven days of the creation are literal seven days (see the introduction above), the creation culminates in a day of rest from work to the glory and worship of God. God didn’t need to rest from His work of creation, but He knew we needed both a day to rest from our work, and a day to worship Him and study His Word. The Sabbath day’s rest was fulfilled when Jesus rested in His tomb the whole Sabbath day after He died, and before He rose from the dead on the first day of the week.

The number “seven” is very often misinterpreted as a symbolic number in the Scriptures (according to my understanding). Interpreters often say that “seven” is a number of completeness, but I don’t find that in the Scriptures. The only way this would be a number of completeness is if it referred to a week (or a number of weeks), but I don’t really find it used that way symbolically. There is a better number which is used for completeness much more clearly (see “ten” below), and “seven” makes much more sense when we see it as symbolically referring to Christ and His work. Though you may see above that I mentioned above that “six” was incomplete in relation to “seven” that doesn’t necessarily point to “seven” as the number of completeness. I still see “seven” as symbolic of Christ and His work, which certainly is complete in all that He set out to do, but the symbolism refers to Jesus, and not to completeness as “ten” does.

10 – The number “10” (and multiples) signifies completion, or perfection, or fulfillment. Just as ten fingers or ten toes are a complete set for a normal person, so the number “ten” signifies the full number of something when used symbolically in the Scriptures. Many times this number is intensified to 1,000 (10³) which symbolizes the fullness of what God intended, as in Revelation 20 where the 1,000 years are not literally 1,000 years, but the fulfillment of the whole time which God has ordained for these events to unfold.

The Last Supper window from Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Detroit, Michigan

12 – The number “twelve” represents God’s people, the church. In Old Testament times the church was the 12 tribes of Israel (after the days of Jacob’s 12 sons, of course). In the New Testament Jesus chose 12 disciples, and after His ascension Matthias was chosen to take the place of Judas, who killed himself, so there would be 12 Apostles to proclaim the Gospel beginning at Pentecost to make disciples of all nations – which continues to this day.

40 – The number “forty” is used quite frequently in the Scriptures, and it usually is not symbolic, but descriptive. However, it does show up many times in Scripture, and may have symbolic meaning behind it. If we apply my above descriptions to “forty” we might see it as 4×10 which is a completion of something having to do with the world. In Exodus the Israelites were made to wander in the wilderness for 40 years, which was a time of testing and learning to rely on God for their sustenance, protection, and salvation. Many of Israel’s faithful kings were given reigns lasting 40 years, which seemed to show God’s favor for their faithfulness by their being given a “full” reign. Jonah’s message to Nineveh was that God’s judgment would come in 40 days, which was a time of testing that they used to good effect by repenting of their sins. In the Gospels, Jesus fasted in the wilderness 40 days, and had to rely on God, the Father, for survival, and He was also tested and tempted by the devil.

144,000 – The number “one hundred forty four thousand” in Revelation 7 and 14 is symbolic of all the people who receive the salvation won by Christ. We know this number is symbolic because in Rev. 7:9 John describes the 144,000 as “a great multitude that no one could count.” Since they can’t be counted then they must be more than 144,000 that he just described and so that number is symbolic. “One hundred forty four” is 12×12, which symbolically represents the Old Testament saints and the New Testament saints, and this is multiplied by 1,000 which is 10³, which is the number of completeness raised to the third power. This symbolizes the complete number of God’s people in both the Old and New Testament times, which is the whole Christian Church.

Much more could be said about symbols in the Scriptures, but this is just a brief explanation of the way I view how numbers are used symbolically in the Holy Bible. Just because numbers are sometimes used symbolically in the Scriptures does not mean there is some mysterious “secret code” which must be discovered for understanding. The Holy Scriptures were written for our understanding, not our confusion.  The main thing to keep in mind when trying to understand the Bible is that the whole of the Scriptures point to Christ as our salvation from Sin (see John 5:39) so that we might believe in Jesus and receive God’s gift of forgiveness and eternal life (see John 20:30-31 and John 3:16-17).

Can You Forgive Yourself?

by Pastor Paul Wolff

Would you? Could you? Should you? Can you forgive yourself ? These are the questions that everyone should be asking when someone says that you have to forgive yourself. Few people, however, ask these important questions. Forgiving yourself sounds like a good idea, so people take it for granted that it actually is a good thing.

It is not uncommon to hear people say that you have to forgive yourself. Christians will even sometimes say this. This kind of sounds like a Christian thing to do, but where in the Bible does it say that we should or could forgive ourselves? The answer is that the Holy Scriptures nowhere tell us that this is something that we ought to do. In fact, it says quite the opposite.

What does the Bible say about Forgiveness?

Jesus and Zacchaeus - Luke 19

There is much that the Holy Scriptures say about forgiveness, but none of it is about the benefits of forgiving oneself. In summary: God forgives me so I ought to forgive others (see 1 John 4:7-12). This is the proper order. In researching this article I found a web site which claimed to show Biblical rationale for forgiving oneself. Instead, what they did was quote several Bible passages which talked about God’s forgiveness of our sins through Christ, and exhortations to us to forgive others, and for each example the article just said, “This also can be applied to forgiving ourselves.” No Biblical reason or example was given for forgiving yourself, it was just asserted as if God’s forgiving you and your forgiving others is the same as you forgiving yourself. But let’s look at some of the Biblical teachings on forgiveness.

In the Gospel accounts of Jesus healing the paralyzed man, before Jesus heals the man He says to him, “Your sins are forgiven.” The people in the house who knew the Scriptures asked, “Who can forgive sins, but God alone?” (Mark 2:7; Luke 5:21) Although these people mistakenly thought that Jesus did not have the authority to forgive sins, they were right to believe that only God can forgive sins.

When King David wrote Psalm 51 after he repented of his many sins in the Bathsheba affair he wrote, “O God … Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.” (Psalm 51:1, 4) Though David had sinned greatly against Uriah and Bathsheba and others, he confesses that he has only sinned against God. How can that be right? It is right because it is God who makes the laws, and He determines what is right and what is wrong. The Ten Commandments are God’s commands to us. God commands us to do what is right and forbids us from doing wrong. God declares that the punishment for sin is death, and only God can rightly punish or forgive those who break His laws.

God has also saved you from the punishment for your sin through Jesus Christ. It was Jesus who fulfilled God’s commands in your place, and then went to the cross to also take the punishment that you deserved for your sins. Since Jesus paid the price for your forgiveness, He is the one who has forgiven all your sins. Then, since Christ has won full forgiveness for all your sins, why would you ever need to forgive yourself?

In the Lord’s Prayer Jesus instructs His disciples how to pray for forgiveness. Jesus says, “When you pray, say, ‘Father … forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.’” Note who is to forgive whom in this prayer. We ask God first to forgive our sins, and then to enable us to forgive others who sin against us. Christ does command us all to forgive the sins that others commit against us, but there is no suggestion that we are to forgive ourselves. Our personal sins are committed to God for His mercy and forgiveness, where we can be sure they are forgiven in Christ.

Are You Qualified to Forgive Yourself?

The Father forgives the Prodigal Son

The trouble with forgiving yourself is that, contrary to what we all believe about ourselves, each one of us is the least qualified to judge our own sin. Here it helps to remember how the devil tempts us to sin. The devil makes sin seem attractive to us by making us believe that sin is more profitable, pleasurable, and beneficial to us than righteousness. These are all lies, but because of this, we find ways to justify our wickedness and evil so that we often are unaware that we are sinning at all. So if we were in charge of our own forgiveness we might overlook some sin we particularly enjoy, and would then be condemned of that sin by God, our final judge.

A good Biblical example of this is the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant (Matthew 18:22-35). The servant owed his lord more debt than he could ever repay, but the lord is merciful and forgives him the whole debt. Then the servant turned around and had a fellow servant thrown into prison for owing him a much smaller debt. When the lord hears about this he has the unmerciful servant imprisoned until he repays every last cent that he owed him. The problem with the unmerciful servant was not that he didn’t forgive himself, but that he did not appreciate the great forgiveness given to him by his lord.

Self-forgiveness is the wrong solution to the problem

Jesus died on the cross to win your forgiveness

Now, someone might say that I might need to forgive myself if I hold on to guilt for some sin after I have already been forgiven by God (and my neighbor – where applicable). This could certainly be a problem, but forgiving myself is the wrong solution to continuing feelings of guilt. There is no doubt that I ought to feel guilty for the sins I commit against God and against others. Some guilty feelings may linger after I have been absolved, but the problem isn’t with God or others who forgive me. The problem is with me.

Even true forgiveness may not necessarily get rid of feelings of guilt. If your conscience is working properly you will feel guilty for doing wrong even after you have been forgiven and the issue has been resolved. This is not necessarily a bad thing, and will help you to resist committing such sin the next time you are tempted.

Christ’s forgiveness is sure, but if you don’t believe it then you are going to worry that you could still face punishment over that sin. (Now, you may still have to face temporal punishment by the civil authorities for a sin that God has already forgiven, but that is different than not trusting in God’s forgiveness.) I think this shows where the idea of forgiving oneself comes from. It comes from unbelievers.

Forgiveness and “feelings”

Jesus rose from the dead

A non-Christian (or an unbelieving “christian”) does not have the assurance of forgiveness in Christ, nor does he have the comfort of knowing that God does not hold his guilt against him. In order for such a person to relieve his feelings of guilt over his sins he may find himself trying to forgive himself or otherwise trying to win God’s favor. This is dangerous for his soul because although he may “feel forgiven” he is still condemned before God for the sins he is trying to deal with himself. The only possible good in this is that the unbeliever can get on with his life and do some temporal good without despairing of life, and he may be able to find true forgiveness in Christ later.

In studying this topic I found much discussion about the role of one’s feelings in self-forgiveness. One source I found said that forgiving oneself is all about feeling forgiven. Do you need to feel forgiven? There may be feelings associated with forgiveness, but they aren’t an integral part of the act of forgiveness. For example, one who is forgiven may feel relieved that he isn’t going to die for his sins. Also one may still feel guilty for the wrong done against God or the neighbor. If forgiveness results in feelings of guilt and relief, then how would you even know that you feel forgiven?

The Dangers of Forgiving Yourself

The quest for feeling forgiven is very dangerous. The danger is that I could do something that could make me feel forgiven, when I am not. A great (though extremely sad) example of this is found in Mitch Albom’s book, Tuesdays with Morrie. Morris Schwartz was a man who felt a great need to deal with his guilt as his death seemed to draw near, but he did not trust in God to forgive him. This lack of trust in God is shown by the fact that “God” is only mentioned three times in the book, and never as a solution to his guilt or impending death. (What kind of a dying man is not concerned about God?) Schwartz’ solution was to hold a mock funeral before his death so he could hear people say all kinds of good things about his life so he wouldn’t feel so guilty for his sins as he approached death. (Note: This is not how Albom interpreted the events, but this is my interpretation of what was going on with the bizarre behavior of his former teacher & friend – but if you read the book you will see that this is what happened.) Although Morris Schwartz died a happy man thinking that he surely must surely have pleased his god enough to be rewarded, he was very likely disappointed after his death because he rejected the true forgiveness that is only found in Jesus Christ’s atonement for his sins on the cross. This is just one tragic example why we cannot trust our feelings where forgiveness is concerned.

Forgiving yourself doesn’t seem to be a dangerous exercise, but that only makes it similar to most of the sins that we all commit every day. The devil would never tell you that the thing that you are enjoying so much will kill you. The danger of forgiving yourself is that when you make yourself feel forgiven without ever needing to repent and then receive that forgiveness from Christ, then you will eventually feel that you don’t need Christ at all and will lose your faith and your salvation. This doesn’t happen all at once, but slowly and without you even noticing what is happening. By the time you might notice that you no longer trust in Christ for forgiveness it will be too late and you will be lost and condemned in your sin, and/or you just won’t care any more.

True Assurance

Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead

Would you? Could you? Should you? Can you forgive yourself? Forgiveness is at the heart of what it means to be saved. You might as well ask, “Can I save myself?” The answer in the Scriptures is clearly: No. Jesus said, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” But he said, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” (Luke 18:25-27) In this passage the problem isn’t wealth, but the rich who put their trust in their wealth to save them. You cannot save yourself. Only God can forgive you and save you because of what Jesus has done to pay for your sins.

Every false religion in the world teaches that it is up to you to save yourself and earn forgiveness. Every false teaching among the Christian denominations introduces the false idea that you have to do something to achieve forgiveness and salvation. If forgiveness is not the free gift of God through Jesus Christ, then it is false, and will not save you.

True forgiveness comes only from God through Christ Jesus. Your sin is such a big problem that only God could save you from the guilt of your sin. Fortunately, Jesus loved you so that He gave His life on the cross to pay the terrible price to free you from your sin. If you want to be forgiven (and you do – whether you acknowledge it or not) then you must trust in Jesus to forgive you and save you from your sins. To rescue you from your sins it took God Himself to become incarnate as one of His created people and live the perfectly obedient life that none of us sinners could accomplish. Then He had to suffer the punishment on the cross to pay the price for your sins. It is amazing that God loved us all so that He did all that was necessary to save us from our sins. Yet, there He was – hanging dead on the cross. That is how you can be sure you are forgiven.

If you want assurance that your sins are forgiven you don’t have to forgive yourself. In fact, you can’t find true assurance by forgiving yourself – there will always be doubt if your forgiveness depends on anything you do. The only sure and certain way to know you are forgiven is to trust that God, Himself, has done everything needed to rescue you from your sins. Look to the cross. There you will see that God has forgiven all your sins and has rescued you from death and all the consequences of sin.

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“Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits – He forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.” (Psalm 103:1-3)

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.

The Incarnation of God

by Pastor Paul Wolff

The Incarnation of God in Jesus is one of the greatest mysteries in all of history. Yet, we ought to remember that whenever the Holy Scriptures speak of a mystery it is something that has been revealed to us in Jesus. It is not that all our questions are answered, but the great mysteries are no longer hidden, but are revealed in Jesus.

“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” (Hebrews 1:1-3)

When the Angel Gabriel said to the virgin, Mary, “You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus…” God was then incarnate in a microscopic single celled person, Jesus. He was still God, but He humbled Himself and from the moment of His conception He lived a life just like the rest of us, except without sin.

It should be little wonder that “the world did not recognize Him” (John 1:10) because in His humility Jesus did not use His Divine power until his ministry began. Jesus had to learn who He was, and why He came to earth to live as one of His beloved creatures. And yet, even though Jesus had to learn and grow like any other child, He still lived the sinless life according to His nature. Even though Mary and Joseph surely sinned against Him (how could they not?), and even though His siblings: James, Joseph, Judas, Simon, and his sisters (Mark 6:3); surely sinned against Him, yet Jesus never sinned against them, nor against God, the Father.

Window from Trinity Lutheran Church, Herscher, Illinois

It is a good exercise to consider all that Jesus sacrificed in order to save us. Though we cannot know all that Jesus sacrificed, the better idea we have of what He sacrificed, the better we can appreciate what He did to save us from our sin and death.

Pastor Jared Melius of Mt. Zion Lutheran Church, Denver, Colorado, has some great insight into Luke 2:41-52 (Issues Etc. audio link) which shows just how much Jesus gave up to win our salvation. This story is not about Christ’s Nativity, but it happened when He was 12 years old. Sometimes this event is described as the boy Jesus teaching in the temple, but that is not the way Luke records the event. Pastor Melius’ brilliant insight is that although Mary and Joseph regularly went to Jerusalem for the Passover this may have been Jesus’ first time there since He was 40 days old (Luke 2:22-ff). Jesus did not come to teach, but to learn, as Luke makes a point of saying how Jesus grew as a child.

Since it was the Passover celebration, Jesus likely asked questions about the sacrifice of the passover lamb, and how it saved God’s people from the plague of death, and how the death of the lamb related to the promised messiah. He learned from the Scriptures that God’s messiah would sacrifice His life like a passover lamb to save all people from their sins. In His state of humility, Jesus had to learn that it was the will of God, the Father, that He would give up His life to save sinners from the consequences of their sins. And yet, Jesus did not once turn away from the path that God, the Father, had placed before Him.

The Holy Scriptures were not written only for us sinners, that we may believe in Christ as our savior, but they were also written for Jesus, so that He might also know what He had to do in obedience to God to win our salvation. Jesus, too, had to trust in God’s Word, and obey God as a man, even though it meant great suffering and torment for Him. Out of His love for God and for us sinners, Jesus obeyed His Father and was obedient unto death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:5-11)!

May Christ bless you and your family through the Christmas Season and throughout the whole year as you contemplate God’s incarnation, and all that Jesus did to save you from sin and death!

The Seductive Danger of Lies

by Pastor Paul Wolff

Jesus called the devil the “father of lies”
and did not fall for the temptations.

When I first began teaching religion classes at the Lutheran school connected with the church where I was first called to be the pastor, I was really shocked at how freely and easily lies passed over the lips of the beautiful, precious children whom I was called to teach. I don’t know if that was something peculiar to Detroit or if it was just the wickedness of the time. It could have been related to the fact that many of our students were not Lutheran, but were members of neo-Pentecostal churches. I have since come to realize that the so-called “charismatic Christians” are very practiced liars. They all pretend to have special “gifts” like speaking in tongues, or hearing God talk to them, in order to make others think that they are closer to God. They claim this comes from the Holy Spirit, but that is a lie. Many charismatics will not think twice about contradicting the true Word of God found in the Holy Scriptures in favor of what they “feel in their heart”. I don’t recall now if those children who lied to me so frequently were all Pentecostals (I didn’t treat them any differently than anyone else – both Lutherans and charismatics need to hear the same Biblical teachings of Law and Gospel), but it is likely that this may be an explanation. Either way, I seem to recall that when I was in school lying was actively discouraged so that it was fairly infrequent, rather than being the normal thing to do. It still happened, (Lutherans lie, too) but the first use of the law did its work and lying was infrequent.

The temptation to lie comes from a desire to gain advantage over others which we wouldn’t have if the truth were known. We lie to try to evade punishment for a wrong we have done. We lie to flatter someone so they will think we are nicer than we are and so will favor us with their friendship. We lie to otherwise make ourselves seem better than we really are.

It is commonly said that the truth hurts. This is only because as sinners we are far too comfortable with lying and the ill-gotten “benefits” of those lies. Holy Scripture says something much different about the truth. Jesus says, “I am the truth.” (John 14:6) This explains a lot about the prevalence of lies in this world. Sinners, by nature, are inclined to follow the lies of the devil rather than the truth of Jesus. Jesus identifies the devil as “a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44)

Our susceptibility to lies goes back to the Garden of Eden when Eve believed the lie of the devil who said, “You shall not surely die.” (Genesis 3:4), when God had said, “The day you eat of (the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:17) Eve believed the lie because the lie made it seem as if she would then be in control like God. By believing the lie Eve – and soon thereafter, Adam – brought sin and death not only to themselves, but also to all their descendants.

The prophet Jeremiah lamented the prevalence of lies among God’s people when he prophesied this: “‘[My people] make ready their tongue like a bow, to shoot lies; it is not by truth that they triumph in the land. They go from one sin to another; they do not acknowledge me,’ declares the Lord. ‘Beware of your friends; do not trust your brothers. For every brother is a deceiver, and every friend a slanderer. Friend deceives friend, and no one speaks the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they weary themselves with sinning. You live in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,’ declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 9:3-6) It is very instructive that the lies are portrayed as deadly weapons shot from the mouth as arrows are shot from a bow. God is not being cynical, He is lamenting that the truth seems foreign to His people and the lies are destroying them.

The 20th century German Lutheran theologian, Hermann Sasse, noted the destructive nature of lies in a 1936 Essay titled “Union and Confession”. He wrote, 

“The lie is the death of man, his temporal and his eternal death. The lie kills nations. The most powerful nations of the world have been laid waste because of their lies. … Where man can no longer bear the truth, he cannot live without the lie. … For the power of the lie extends right into the church. … For men in the church are and remain poor sinners until their death. Lies have been told in the church because of cowardice and weakness, vanity and avarice. But beyond all these there is in the church one particularly sweet piece of fruit on the broad canopy of the tree of lies. There is the pious lie. It is the hypocrisy by which a man lies to others and the intellectual self-deception by which he lies to himself about what he actually believes. … What a fearful thought it is indeed that things are taught in the church which are not true, under the guise of the eternal truth entrusted to her. No atheism, no Bolshevism can do as much damage and destruction as the pious lie, the lie in the church.” 

Sasse was focusing on a lie which said that disagreements in doctrine are insignificant for unity in the church, but what he said could apply to any lie in the church. Lies kill.

You would think logically that if lies are so destructive that people would tend to avoid them out of a desire for self-preservation, but that is not the case. Jeremiah 5:30-31 says, “An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their direction; my people love to have it so.” We are tempted to believe that lies give us some benefit or advantage, and that makes us afraid of the truth, and fear leads to cowardice because of weakness. The lies told in church often are told to make the people think that their sinfulness is not as bad as it is in reality. Since no one takes pleasure in admitting his sinfulness, people love to hear the pious lies. It is much more comfortable to believe a lie which says that I am not such a bad person.

Political commentator Ann Coulter observed this, “People don’t get angry when lies are told about them; they get angry when the truth is told about them.” Coulter writes about politics, but what she observes comes from sinful human nature and has consequences in many aspects of life. Proverbs 29:12 says, “If a ruler listens to lies, all his officials become wicked.” When such political considerations find their way into the church (and they always do find a way in) that is when the church gets into trouble. In a sinful society, such as our own, pastors feel great pressure not to preach the truth of God’s Law about the sinfulness of the people. If the pastors can make the people feel good about themselves then the people will reward the lying pastors and make their lives comfortable and easy. However, if the pastors persist in telling the truth, then the unrepentant people will turn away and go find some slick, lying, charlatan pastor who will tell them what they want to hear. The lie may be more comfortable to hear for the moment, but there is no salvation in the lie. If we think that our sin is not too bad then we will not feel a need for a savior and will only have contempt for Jesus.

Preaching Jesus as the savior for sinners is the very definition of the Gospel that God has revealed in Holy Scripture – the same Gospel which saves those sinners who hear it and believe it. The problem is that the Gospel presumes the Law. If Jesus is only the savior of sinners, then that condemns me if I would rather listen to the lies that tell me that I am really a pretty good person and my sin is not such a big problem. If I prefer the lie to the truth, then I will only hear the Gospel as condemning law. Even the pure, life-giving Gospel of Jesus will be a damning law to me if I believe that I don’t need a savior who had to die to redeem me. That is why the lie is so dangerous.

“Buy the truth and do not sell it; get wisdom, discipline and understanding.” (Proverbs 23:23) Those who sell out the truth harm themselves along with those who pay so well for their own destruction. But the truth of Jesus as our savior from sin is so valuable that we should treasure it and “buy” it no matter the cost. Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” (Matt 13:45-46) In one way, Jesus is “The Truth” which is the precious treasure more valuable than all the riches of the world. However, in another way, Jesus is the merchant who considered us to be such a great treasure that He gave up all He had to redeem us from our sin, so that we may be His own.

Jesus said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. … So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:31-32, 36) Jesus is the Truth who sets us free from our slavery to sin and lies.



* * *
Herman Sasse quote from The Lonely Way, p. 266-267, “Union and Confession” (1936), Concordia Publishing House, 2001.
Ann Coulter quote from How to talk to a Liberal (if you must) P. 10, Crown Forum, 2004.

Blinded by Sin

by Pastor Paul Wolff

The transfiguration of Jesus is one of the great mysteries of the Bible. However, the mystery is NOT that we don’t really know what happened. On the contrary, three of the Gospels recount the events of the transfiguration so we know well what happened. The mystery is: what does the transfiguration mean?

What happened was that Jesus took Peter, James, and John up a mountain and the appearance of Jesus was transfigured so that he shone with a bright light. The ancient prophets, Moses and Elijah, appeared talking with Jesus about his upcoming “departure” in Jerusalem. Then a voice from a cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”

Needless to say, this doesn’t happen every day, and that is part of the mystery, but it was not unprecedented in the history of the world. In the exodus from Egypt, Moses was talking with God on Mt. Sinai, receiving the law for God’s people, and when he came down the mountain his face was shining because he had been in the presence of God. Moses’ presence at the transfiguration of Jesus gives us a clue about the meaning of this mysterious event. The shining light was the glorious holiness of God. The difference is that in the case of Moses the light was residual from God’s glory and it eventually faded away. In Jesus’ case, the light came from within Him. He was the source of the light.

When God created light on the first day of creation he did not create any “natural” sources for the light until day four so we must conclude that God, Himself, was the source of the daylight for the first three days of creation. Also, in the Revelation that Jesus gave to John on Patmos later in his life, John writes of the heavenly paradise, “And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light.” (Revelation 22:5)

The question is, if Jesus was the source of the glorious light on the mount of transfiguration, why didn’t anyone see it in His life before then? Again, we can look back to Moses for a clue. When the Israelites saw Moses reflecting the holiness of God they could not bear to look at him. Sinners cannot bear the holiness of God, even the greatly diminished reflected glory in the face of Moses. Scripture tells us that “no one can see the face of God and live.” (Exodus 33:20) Moses received special grace from God to be in His presence, but even Moses was not permitted to see the full glory of the face of God.

Like everything that Jesus did in His life, it was out of love for us that Jesus hid His glorious holiness except for this brief time on the mountain with Peter, James, John, Moses, and Elijah. Sinners cannot bear holiness because it shows us just how corrupt we are because of our sin. We are all blinded by our sin. We see everything through corrupt, sinful eyes. This is a twisted view of reality. We are so used to sin and comfortable with it that we imagine that we aren’t so bad and that some of the things we do are actually so good that even God Himself must be pleased. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Sin corrupts us totally. Everything that we are and do is tainted by sin so that even our righteous deeds are as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6) in God’s holy sight. For sinners to stand in the presence of God’s holiness would make us so aware of the corruption of our sin that we would die. Even to get a glimpse of God’s holiness (as the Israelites saw in Moses) would be unbearable. This is a function of the Law of God – to show us our sin. However, as Jesus tells us, “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) So Jesus hid His holiness and lived an ordinary life no different from any other man, except that He was without sin – but even this He did quietly without drawing attention to Himself.

The glory of God’s holiness revealed in Jesus in the transfiguration is set in sharp contrast to the grotesque horror of the crucifixion, and yet, both events reveal the same glory of God. The holiness of God is not a pure abstraction, and it is not only made tangible by an unbearable light. The holiness of God is, more than anything else, expressed in a love that moved God to become incarnate as Jesus Christ as one of His created people to bear the sins of the world and to suffer and die to pay the price for our sin to redeem us. As Jesus hung dying on the cross He not only continued to hide His glory, but He endured God’s wrath over our sin to spare us from the punishment that we deserve. Jesus did not make us endure the guilt of our sin, but He endured the punishment of the sins of the whole world.

The hiddenness of Christ’s glorious holiness is a mystery that is only partially revealed in the event of the transfiguration. However, this is how God works in the world. Out of love for us, God does not blast us with His glory. God does not force us to love Him, nor does He force us to endure the unbearable reality of our sin. Instead, God is merciful to us and works through the means of His Word and Sacraments to show us our sin and our savior. The “weakness” of these “Means of Grace” is that they can be rejected by people. The strength of these Means of Grace is that God works through them to bring us the salvation won for us by Jesus on the Cross.

All people on earth live under the grace of God, and part of this grace is that we are blind to the full reality of our sinful corruption, just as we are blind to the glorious holiness of God. We should not attempt to perceive the holiness of God because in our sinful condition we are likely to be led astray by the lies of the devil. We may think we see a divine revelation, but it is most likely to be our own sinful desires within us. Yet God has given us His Holy Scriptures to show us our true savior, Jesus Christ, so that all who believe in Jesus are saved from their sins and will share in the glorious holiness of God, of which we see a brief glimpse in the Transfiguration.