The King of Israel is in Your Midst

Advent Rejoicing and the Gospel Reading from Luke 7

Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

And now here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg. The Holy Gospel according.

To St. Luke, chapter 7, verses 18 -35. John's disciples told him about all these things. Calling two of them, he sent them to the Lord to ask, are you the one who was to come or should we expect someone else?

When the men came to Jesus they asked, they said, John the Baptist sent us to ask, are you the one who was to come or should we expect someone else? At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits and he gave sight to many who were blind.

So he replied to the messengers, go back and report to John what you have seen and heard. The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the good news is preached to the poor.

Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me. After John's messengers left, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John. What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind?

No, if not what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear expensive clothes and indulge in luxury are in palaces. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.

This is the one whom it is written, I will send my messenger ahead of you who will prepare your way before you. I tell you among those born of women there is no one greater than John, yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

And all the people, even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus' words, acknowledged that God's way was right because they had been baptized by John. But the Pharisees and experts of the law rejected God's purpose for themselves because they had not been baptized by John.

To what then can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? Well, they're like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other. Well, we played the flute for you and you didn't dance.

We sang a dirge and you didn't cry. For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine. And you say he has a demon. The son of man came eating and drinking. And you say here's a glutton and a drunkard and a friend of tax collectors and sinners.

Rejoice in the Lord Always and Prayer with Thanksgiving

But wisdom is proved right by all of her children. In the name of Jesus. Amen. Alright, here again our epistle text to kind of lead things off. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say rejoice. Paul wrote these words from prison.

Rejoice in the Lord always. I don't know how many of you could write such a sentence if you found yourself incarcerated for preaching the gospel and yet Paul writes these things. And you can kind of think of today, this third Sunday of Advent as Rejoice Sunday.

It's Rejoice Sunday. There's a lot of interplay on rejoicing here and also kind of interplay on light and darkness. We'll talk about that. So let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand.

Don't be anxious about anything. But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Well there goes that whole theology. You don't need to pray. You just need to decree and declare things.

Here Paul says very clearly let your requests, your petitions be made known to God. In other words when we pray we don't demand things from God and say I have faith and I decree and declare. No we humbly on our knees say Lord we need these things in your mercy.

Please grant them. And he being God may answer our prayers with a yes. He may answer them with a no. Or he might say something to the effect of you know I understand you need that but I'm going to tweak your request a little bit so that what you have asked for doesn't harm you.

This is how God is. So the peace of the Lord which surpasses all understanding this will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. This frames our thoughts and as we return to our gospel text and I'll be reading from my translation.

Here's what it says. His disciples reported to John about all these things and having summoned a certain two of his disciples John sent them to the Lord saying are you the one coming or should we be looking for another one?

Someone else? It's an interesting question. Keep in mind that the gospel of John writes of John the Baptist in chapter one there was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to bear witness about the light that all might believe through him.

He was not the light but he came to bear witness about the light. The true light which gives light to everyone was coming into the world. So John the Baptist the forerunner of Christ was not the light but he was to bear witness to the light and so he did.

But now he finds himself in a dark dungeon. In prison. In Herod's prison. For doing what? Preaching repentance. Preaching repentance is a dicey business. It could get you in a lot of trouble. John should let you know that.

But that's okay. It says this. John has heard the reports of Jesus. He's in prison. He wants to make sure he hasn't run his course in vain. But what's getting to John is kind of mixed reports. Remember when John preached about Jesus.

Repent. Repent. He's spitting grasshopper legs at people. He's smelly. He looks awful. He's dressed terribly. He's got this kind of wild wilderness man thing going on, right? And he's telling people when he comes his winnowing fork is in his hand.

He's going to take the weed into his barn but the chaff he's going to burn up. This is John's message. And then Jesus shows up on the scene. And you know what Jesus is doing? He's forgiving prostitutes.

He's absolving tax collectors. All the sinners are coming around. The lepers. You know the untouchables. The one that God's law demands that they stay outside of the city and say unclean. Unclean. Jesus is touching them and healing them.

All of the outcasts. All of those kicked to the curb by God's law. All of the rabble. All of those sinners. All of those sick people. They're being healed. Forgiven. And of course the Pharisees they're not very impressed with this.

And so John in that dark prison is hearing reports. Yeah. Jesus is going around. He's doing all these things but he's like hanging out with tax collectors and prostitutes. So John has one of those moments where is cousin Jesus really the dude or not?

He didn't say dude but you kind of get the point. So having come to Jesus the men said John the Baptist sent us forth to you saying are you the one coming or should we be looking for another? Now Jesus could have just simply said yeah I'm the Messiah.

Go tell that to John. But here's how he answers it. So at that hour he cured many from diseases and scourges and evil spirits. He granted seeing to many blind ones and having responded he said to them go and report to John the things which you saw and you heard.

Blind ones are seeing again. Lame ones are walking. Lepers are being cleansed. Deaf ones are hearing. Dead ones are being raised. Poor ones are having good news announced to them. All of these are fulfilled prophecies of the Old Testament regarding the Messiah which would unequivocally communicate to John the Baptist yeah I'm the one.

Don't expect anybody else. But it's fascinating in that list of fulfilled prophecies there's one particular fulfilled prophecy or prophecy regarding the Messiah that Jesus doesn't have reported to John.

And one of the prophecies of the Messiah is that he would set the prisoners free. But John was not going to be set free. He was going to die and be martyred for proclaiming and being a bearing witness to the light.

So he didn't want to give him any false hopes. So let him know that the blind ones are seeing. Lepers are being cleansed. Deaf ones are hearing. Dead ones are being raised. Poor ones are having good news announced to them.

And then Jesus says this, and blessed is whoever does not take offense in me. It really is offensive to the religious, to the self-righteous that all this rabble, all of these sinners, these tax collectors, prostitutes, lepers, blind ones, all of these people who were clearly born in sin that they're being forgiven and restored.

Free. They don't even have to pay for it. There's nothing they have to do. Just receive. Jesus is like Santa Claus on Christmas, handing out all these gifts to these people. But these aren't cute children.

These are sinners he's handing these gifts out to. God isn't supposed to operate that way. It's supposed to work off the quid pro quo. You do your part, and then God is supposed to do his part. You pay your tithe, God blesses you.

You obey, God blesses you. Jesus has taken all of this and just turned it right upside down. You are a sinner. God forgives you. It's not supposed to work that way. And yet it was. There was Jesus handing out mercy, forgiveness, healing, and grace.

And the Pharisees are offended. The self-righteous usually are. Forgiveness can't be that free. I understand that it's a gift, but come on somebody's got to pay a little bit for it. Right? This is how they operate.

This is how they think. No, free means free, gift means gift. Get over it. You don't like the fact that that sinner's being forgiven? Well, just imagine how offended somebody is that God can forgive you.

That'll quiet the conversation down a little bit, by the way. Right? So Jesus says, blessed is whoever does not take offense in me. Intermission. Here again the words of our Old Testament text. Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion.

Shout, O Israel. Rejoice and exult with all of your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord has taken away the judgments against you. He's cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst, and you shall never again fear evil.

You see, all of these things were happening because the King of Israel, Yahweh Himself, was in their very midst. And yet, keep this in mind, Jesus says, where two or more are gathered in my name, He is there in their midst.

The King of Israel, the Lord Himself, He's even in our midst today, forgiving and handing out His great mercy and gifts. Verse 24 from the Gospel text. So the messengers of John having departed, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John.

I love Jesus' kind of tongue-in-cheek here. So what did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed blowing and shaken by the wind? A little joke, right? No. What did you go out to see? A man having dressed in soft garments?

No. Behold, the ones being in glorious clothing and luxury, they're in royal places. So what did you go out to see? A prophet. And there it is. Jesus makes it very clear that John the Baptist is a prophet.

But he's more than that, Jesus says. Yes, a prophet. And I say to you, more than a prophet. The reason why is because he's kind of like part prophet, part gospel preacher. Truly, he's the last of the Old Testament prophets and the first of the evangelists.

So I say to you, more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it has been written, and you can find this in Malachi 3, starting at verse 1. Behold, I am sending forth my messenger ahead of your presence, who will make your way ready in front of you.

I say to you, no one is greater among ones born of women than John. Now real quick, let's understand what Jesus is saying here. That there is no one greater among those born of women. You can kind of think of it this way.

At the end of the day, if you were wondering, okay, when it's all tallied on the day of judgment, who really was the one who was the holiest of the holy among the sinners of earth? You know, if you pull out God's law, and that's your standard, right?

How do you measure up, right? Is it Mother Teresa? Is she coming in on top? Is it going to be Billy Graham? Who's it going to be? John the Baptist. According to the law, the one who lived the holiest life is not Mother Teresa, it's not Billy Graham, it's not anybody today, definitely not any of the televangelists.

I just want to make that clear. It's John the Baptist. But then Jesus says this, but the least one in the kingdom of God is greater than he. The least. That means the most forgiven sinner. Something like that.

It has something to do with the gospel. I don't know how least and greatest are kind of worked out in the kingdom of heaven, but I do know this. Everybody who's truly a part of the kingdom of heaven, they are forgiven sinners.

And so however that is judged by God, greatest, least, apparently there's some kind of a way of working all of this out. Just before you think that maybe that means that the prostitute who is trusting in Jesus for the forgiveness of her sins, maybe she's the least.

But see, the thing is, it takes a lot of faith to believe that those kinds of sins can be forgiven and that it's truly for you. That would probably, she would not be the one who's the least in the kingdom of heaven.

She might be closer to the top, to the greatest. Maybe the least in the kingdom of heaven is the pastor who preached the gospel his entire life and barely believed it or didn't think that he really needed that much forgiveness.

That guy could really be the least, right? And you think, what a scoundrel that guy is, right? What a scoundrel. So according to Jesus, even that forgiven sinner is way greater than John the Baptist in the kingdom of heaven.

Why? Because what is it that makes us great in the kingdom of heaven? Jesus. His mercy, his forgiveness, his righteousness that covers our sin and shame. So notice the interplay here. John the Baptist, the greatest among all the people that will ever be born of a woman, according to the law, but even the most rotten of the rotten in the kingdom of heaven is way greater than he is.

This is good news. These are comforting words. So all the people having heard Jesus, even the tax collectors, and now this is going to be an interesting translation. The NIV gets at this a little bit better than the ESV, but here's how I translate it.

All of these people having heard Jesus, even the tax collectors, they vindicated God. They showed God to be true because they had been baptized with the baptism of John. God is vindicated by his children.

God is vindicated and shown to be true by those whom he has had mercy on. Those who've been brought to penitent faith, who trust in him for the forgiveness of their sins. That's what Jesus is saying. But here's what it says then.

But the Pharisees, and the experts in the law, they rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by John. This is utter foolishness. This is utter foolishness. Now notice here that God's purpose for the Pharisee, and these experts in the law, his purpose for them was the exact same purpose even for the rabble that he had.

That they repent. That their sins are washed away. That they are forgiven. Why? Because God is rich in mercy. He can forgive even you. And so the Pharisees, they come to hear John, and you know what? They say, that's okay, we'll pass.

We don't need to be baptized. We're good people. We keep the law. We don't need to be forgiven and have our sins washed away. And to which, all the Norwegians said, oofta. Right? And rightly so. And rightly so.

Because the one thing I know about Pharisees, and the one thing I know about the rabble, is that we're all on the same level. Sinner in need of Savior. And there's the Savior. And so John, he baptized them in preparation for the light to come into the world and everybody was repenting, having their sins forgiven, but the Pharisees said, no thank you, we don't need that.

And it says here, Jesus said, that they have rejected the purpose of God for themselves. And God's purpose was to forgive them. How sad. Absolutely sad. He would have them forgiven and restored, and their sins washed away, and they said, no, we don't need that.

And blindly went along with their false religion. Which took them to hell. Very sad. Again, Zephaniah, on that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, fear not, O Zion, let not your hands grow weak. The Lord your God is in your midst.

A mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with gladness. The Lord who is mighty to save is going to rejoice over you? And over me? Yes, God is vindicated by His holy ones. His forgiven ones.

He will quiet you by His love. He will exalt over you with loud singing. I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival so that you will no longer suffer reproach. This is an amazing passage. God is in our midst.

Mighty to save. And He will exalt over us with gladness. That's how much His love is for us. It's like a father exalting over his son. That's the kind of love that's being described here. Back to our gospel.

So then Jesus said, what then will I liken the people of this generation? Well, what are they like? Well, they're like children sitting in the marketplace calling to one another saying, well, we played the flute and you didn't dance.

Who doesn't dance when the flute's playing, right? I mean, every time I hear a flute, I start to do a little jig, right? So we played a dirge. You didn't lament.

Okay.

We lamented and you didn't weep. Alright, so John the Baptist, he's come not eating bread nor drinking wine and you say he has a demon. Son of man has come eating and drinking and you say, behold, this man's a glutton and a drunkard and a friend of tax collectors and sinners.

Oh, yes, he is. Yes, he is. Jesus truly is a friend of tax collectors and sinners. That means he's our friend. Because as I look across the congregation here, all I see are sinners. And the good news is that Christ truly is the friend of sinners.

And you think what's going on in this text? Well, Jesus is describing those Pharisees. And let me quote Cyril of Alexandria on this, just to throw something exotic as far as a quote is. Cyril of Alexandria commenting on this says, the prophet's words will apply to us.

Woe to them that call evil good and good evil. Who call bitter sweet and sweet bitter. Who put light for darkness and darkness for light. This was the character of the Israelites, especially of those who were their chiefs, the scribes, namely and the Pharisees.

Christ said about them, to what shall I liken the men of this generation? Talk about blindness. This is what Jesus is describing. They see John the Baptist and they don't repent. That's like somebody playing the flute and you don't dance or somebody playing a dirge and you don't lament or weep.

It doesn't make any sense. That's calling light darkness. It's worse than that. It's calling darkness light. And so that's how backwards, upside down and inside out the Pharisees are. They're so backwards, inside out, they think that it's an awful thing that Jesus is a friend of sinners.

But to those who have been forgiven, to know that Jesus is a friend of sinners is not a terrible thing. It's a wonderful thing. Because it gives us hope. Hope that we can stand on the day of judgment.

Hope that we do not have to suffer shame and reproach. The shame and reproach that comes from God who says, depart from me, I never knew you. And rather than hearing those words, we hear, welcome into my kingdom.

Well done, good and faithful servant. And you say, me? How can that possibly be? I washed you. I forgave you. I gave you faith. I fed you with the body and blood of my son. How can you not be pleasing to me?

I have made you so. Right? And this is why, verse 35 Jesus reiterates, wisdom was vindicated by all of her children. God is truly vindicated by all who repent and believe and trust in Him for the forgiveness of your sins.

So the Lord is in our midst. Mighty to save. Mighty to save even us. Zephaniah writes again, behold at that time I will deal with all of your oppressors. And who are our oppressors? Sin, death, the devil, the world, our own sinful flesh.

God's going to deal with that. And I will save the lame and I will gather the outcast. I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. At that time I will bring you in. At that time when I gather you together for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your fortunes before your eyes.

And the fortune he's talking about that's going to be restored is paradise. The earth that was lost when Adam and Eve sinned. That plunged us into the curse as it was in the beginning. It will be forever.

He's going to change our fortunes. All of the curse goes away and it's nothing but perfect paradise. Face to face with God forever. That's the ultimate fortune reversal. So rejoice. Let me end with these words from the hymn that we all know, O Come O Come Emmanuel.

Two stanzas and I've changed one word. One word. O Come O Come Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel that mourns in lowly exile here until the Son of God appear. Rejoice. Rejoice. Emmanuel has come to thee O Israel.

O come thou day spring come and cheer our spirits by thy advent here. Disperse the gloomy clouds of night and death's dark shadow put to flight. Rejoice. Rejoice. Emmanuel has come to thee. O Kongsvinger.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

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