..per Mission.. The Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost, 13 October 2013, Concordia Lutheran Mission, Terrebonne, Oregon. 鈥淭he Healing of the Lepers Teaches that Christs Word and Sacraments Give to Men the Resurrection of the Body.鈥 St. Luke 17:14. And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priest. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. Introduction. Why would Jesus send a leper to the priest? Shouldn鈥檛 He send a leper to the doctor like He would anyone else who is ailing? Certainly He should. But Jesus sent the lepers to the priest because the Law of Moses required it. OK, so why did the Law of Moses require the lepers be sent to the priest? Shouldn鈥檛 the Law of Moses send the lepers to the physician? Normally, one would do just that. But the Law of Moses sent people to the priest because the Lord desired to give the people a concrete example of the Power of the Spiritual in order to encourage them to trust in the Lord鈥檚 Word and Promise and to confirm and strengthen their faith in the Gospel. Spiritual means Absolution of all sins for Christ鈥檚 sake and faith. And a priest, obviously, deals with that which is spiritual because he brings reconciliation between God and man by the forgiveness of man鈥檚 sins. Hence, the people saw and experienced the Power of the Gospel to restore men鈥檚 flesh ravaged by sin and thus their faith confirmed and strengthened that, indeed, the Gospel does forgive sins, save, restore soul and body and, thereby, give the resurrection of the body. The healing of the lepers strengthens and confirms our faith that God鈥檚 Word and Sacraments do actually forgive sins and, thereby, roll back the ravages of sin to give life everlasting and the resurrection of the body. I. Christ Removes the Ravages of Sin and Gives the Resurrection of the Body by His Passion. A. Leprosy was one of the few physical infirmities directly governed by God鈥檚 Word and Sacraments; God did so in order to confirm and strengthen people in their faith in the Power of the Gospel to deliver from sin and give the resurrection of the body. Leprosy we might call a Sacramental disease. We might call it a Sacramental disease because, unlike most diseases, it is governed directly by God鈥檚 Word and Sacraments under the Law of Moses in the Old Testament according to God鈥檚 Word and Promise in order to strengthen and confirm people鈥檚 faith in the Gospel and its Power to give to men the resurrection of the body. Leprosy under Moses -- not before nor after Moses -- is a Sacramental disease because it responds immediately to the therapeutic effects of God鈥檚 Word and Sacraments, whereas the therapeutic effects of the Word and the Sacraments for nearly all other infirmities aren鈥檛 realized until the resurrection of the body. Hence, we see from this powerful instruction and experience regarding leprosy that the Old Testament sacrifices were actually Sacraments, i.e., they conveyed to sinners the Saving Grace of God in Christ and Him Crucified for the sins of all men, which grace provides for salvation and the healing of all our bodies in the resurrection. The Rev. Dr. Francis Pieper writes: And as concerns the Passover, Ex. 12:21 ff. shows that the Children of Israel were exempted from the punitive judgment of God not because they were Jews, but because of the blood of the paschal lamb. Vv. 23-24: 鈥淔or the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you. And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons forever.鈥 On this account Luther says: 鈥淚t is not true that the Sacraments of the New Testament differ from the Sacraments of the Old Testament as to their signification鈥 [namely, as God-appointed signs of the grace of God] .... 鈥淏oth our and the fathers鈥 signs or Sacraments have a word of promise attached which calls for faith and can be fulfilled by no other work. Therefore they are signs or Sacraments of justification.鈥 ... Both through the Word about the coming Messiah and through circumcision and the Passover, the Sacraments of the Old Testament, the remission of sins was given and, by the believers, appropriated. Just as God鈥檚 Word and Sacraments delivered the people of Israel from death in Egypt, so God鈥檚 Word and Sacraments delivered people from leprosy according to God鈥檚 Word and Promise. Just as God鈥檚 Word and Sacraments required faith for their deliverance in Egypt 鈥 unbelievers not bothering to apply the Sacramental Blood to the posts and lintels of their doors 鈥 so the healing of leprosy in the Old Testament under the Law of Moses required the Gospel and faith. The healing of leprosy required the use of God鈥檚 Word and Sacraments and faith in those Means. Hence, Jesus says in today鈥檚 Gospel: And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole. The Lord chose leprosy to teach and confirm people in the Truth that His Gracious Word of Absolution actually does as He has promised: Forgive sins and deliver from its eternally devastating and lethal effects. Consequently, this part of the Law of Moses was a powerful buttress to faith and encouragement to believers, namely, that God through His Word could and would deliver from all adversities, especially from death, the destruction of the body and soul forever in hell. B. Leprosy shows man the power of sin to dissolve soul and body. Leprosy provides a moving image and experience of sin鈥檚 great power to dissolve men body and soul. Sin introduced death which destroys man body and soul. All diseases and calamities that tear body and soul asunder are the result of the fact that we all are born in sin after the fall of Adam into sin. The Apostle St. Paul writes: Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned ... . The Rev. Dr. Francis Pieper writes: The final total separation of body and soul is simply the culmination of the dissolution which began at once. All men are in the process of dying from their birth, because they are Adam鈥檚 children and thus sinners. The infirmities and sicknesses to which we are subject are the gradual loosening of the bond uniting body and soul; they are the early stages of the complete separation that will come to pass sooner or later. Leprosy especially vividly shows the horrible impact of sin because man鈥檚 flesh decays on him as he is living. Signally, starkly, and simply, leprosy shows, in living flesh, men the end that lies ahead for all: The complete separation of body and soul and the dust of death, as the Lord promised in the Garden of Eden: In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. Some Old Testament commentators have described leprosy this way: As leprosy, regarded as a decomposition of the vital juices, and as putrefaction in a living body, was an image of death, and like this introduced the same dissolution and destruction of life into the corporeal [bodily] sphere which sin introduced into the spiritual ... . The disease of leprosy the Lord used vividly to show men the power of sin to cause the disintegration of man body and soul. C. Christ bore our sins in order to deliver us from infirmities of body and soul and give men the resurrection of the body. From this terrible fate Christ delivered men by assuming the horrible burden of sin for them. The Apostle St. Peter writes of Christ鈥檚 Work for us on the Cross: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. Through Atoning for our sins on the Cross in His Own Body, Christ removed the source of all infirmities in men: sin. And while Christ suffered severe disfigurement from the abuse, flogging, and crucifixion of the Romans, nevertheless, the true disfigurement was spiritual and exceeds human capacity to understand, comprehend, or even withstand. The prophet Isaiah writes: As many were astonied at thee: his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men. But through this Atoning Death Christ removes sin which disfigures men body and soul and restores them soul and body. The Apostle St. Paul writes: Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. By His Passion through Holy Baptism, Christ raises us to life by faith here and now and gives unto us the complete healing of the body of all infirmities, including leprosy, in the resurrection. II. Christ Gives to Men the Resurrection of the Body through His Word and Sacraments. A. The healing of leprosy shows the Power of God鈥檚 Word and Sacraments to Save and give to men the resurrection of the body. To strengthen and confirm people鈥檚 faith in the Power of God鈥檚 Word and Sacraments, i.e. the Gospel, the Lord used leprosy to show that His Word and Sacraments are indeed the Power of God unto Salvation and that they actually deliver to men the resurrection of the body. For this reason He sent men who suffered leprosy to the priest because the priest applied God鈥檚 Word and Sacraments of the Old Testament to deliver men from the leprosy by the Absolution of their sins. Moses writes: And the priest shall offer the sin offering, and make an atonement for him that is to be cleansed from his uncleanness; and afterward he shall kill the burnt offering.... The Rev. Dr. P. E. Kreztmann writes: V. 19. And the priest shall offer the sin-offering, and make an atonement for him that is to be cleansed from his uncleanness, for the leprosy was only the outward expression of the inner impurity of sin ... . The people of Israel experienced a foretaste of the resurrection of the body in the Sacramental and miraculous treatment of leprosy by the Lord through His Word and Sacraments. In this way, the Lord demonstrated to the people of Israel time and again over a period of more than 1400 years 鈥 and now through the Preaching of the Gospel the entire world 鈥 the Great Power His Word and Sacraments to Absolve of sin, save, and give the resurrection of the body. The Lord demonstrates this Blessed Truth again in today鈥檚 Gospel. The Evangelist St. Luke writes: And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. Here Jesus also shows us powerfully Who it is that lies behind the power of the Word and the Sacraments to heal and Who is The High Priest: It is Jesus Himself. The Samaritan recognized this Blessed Truth and immediately returned to praise and give thanks to Jesus: And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God. And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. Christ also here revealed and the Samaritan confessed that He in fact is the True God in the flesh and the Messiah. For only God alone, on His Own Word, Command, and Initiative, can deliver from sin, disease, and death. The Apostle St. Matthew writes: Now when John heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. Finally, Christ taught and the Samaritan confessed that Christ is not Savior only of the Jews, but also of the Gentiles because Christ sends a non-Jew, a despised foreigner, to the priest of Israel. Christ can and may do this because He is the God Who authored and empowered the Law of Moses and, therefore, He is Lord of the law of leprosy just as He is Lord of the sabbath . The healing of leprosy by God鈥檚 Word and Sacraments shows powerfully that God鈥檚 Word delivers what it promises, Absolution of sin for Christ鈥檚 sake, salvation, and the resurrection of the body. B. Christ鈥檚 Word and Sacraments today deliver salvation and the resurrection of the body. As we鈥檝e seen already, these Blessed Benefits are for also the Gentiles also because Christ healed a Gentile leper, the Samaritan, of his leprosy. Jesus, therefore, delivers this Blessed Promise to all Gentiles through His Word and Sacraments. The Apostle St. Matthew writes: And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. As we鈥檝e already seen from St. Paul, through Holy Baptism Christ delivers to men life eternal right now through faith and the resurrection of the body on the last day. Following Scripture the Lutheran Church confesses the Saving and Resurrecting Power of Holy Baptism: Therefore every Christian has enough in Baptism to learn and to practise all his life; for he has always enough to do to believe firmly what it promises and brings: victory over death and the devil, forgiveness of sin, the grace of God, the entire Christ, and the Holy Ghost with His gifts. In short, it is so transcendent that if timid nature could realize it, it might well doubt whether it could be true. For consider, if there were somewhere a physician who understood the art of saving men from dying, or, even though they died, of restoring them speedily to life, so that they would thereafter live forever, how the world would pour in money like snow and rain, so that because of the throng of the rich no one could find access! But here in Baptism there is brought free to every one鈥檚 door such a treasure and medicine as utterly destroys death and preserves all men alive. Likewise, the Lutheran Church confesses that the Holy Communion gives the resurrection of the body because Christ Absolves of all sins through the Sacrament: For here He offers to us the entire treasure which He has brought for us from heaven, and to which He invites us also in other places with the greats kindness, as when He says in St. Matthew 11, 28: Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Now it is surely a sin and a shame that He so cordially and faithfully summons and exhorts us to our highest and greatest good, and we act so distantly with regard to it, and permit so long a time to pass [without partaking of the Sacrament] that we grow quite cold and hardened, so that we have no inclination or love for it. We must never regard the Sacrament as something injurious from which we had better flee, but as a pure, wholesome, comforting remedy imparting salvation and comfort, which will cure you and give you life both in soul and body. For where the souls has recovered, the body also is relieved. While the Church today does not have the Promise of God for an immediate realization of deliverance from bodily infirmities through His Word and Sacraments as did Israel under Moses, nevertheless, we have the same Absolution conveyed to them and the same comfort and encouragement that the Absolution does in fact work because it delivered from leprosy and will on the last day deliver all men from all physical infirmities in the resurrection of the body. And not only will we be delivered of all infirmities but our bodies will be perfect and glorified like Christ鈥檚 risen body . The Apostle St. Paul writes: Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. Conclusion. The healing of leprosy through God鈥檚 Word and Sacraments under the Law of Moses provides Christians with powerful encouragement to trust in God鈥檚 Word and Sacraments to save and give the resurrection of the body. For in the healing of leprosy, we see a glimpse of the resurrection of the body. This Powerful Therapeutic Work of God鈥檚 Word and Sacraments existed in Israel for over 1400 years under Moses. Impressive encouragement then existed for the people of Israel and for us and men of all time that God鈥檚 Word and Sacraments deliver what they promise and did so for an extended period of time, over a millennium and a half. The healing of leprosy reveals to us that sins are truly absolved through the Gospel for Christ鈥檚 sake, salvation and life eternal are ours, and we indeed will rise again from the dead on the Last Day to live in eternal glory with Christ. Amen.
Posted on: Tue, 15 Oct 2013 21:53:29 +0000
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