Archive for the ‘Concordia’ tag
December 21, 2008: The Birth of Jesus
The text for this lesson is Luke 2:1–20.
Key Points
- The Son of God became what we are—human—to make us what He is: a child of the heavenly Father. Furthermore, He revealed where He is to be found: in His Word and Sacraments.
- Law: In the beginning, God created man in His own image, and ever since, we have been trying to return the favor. But the “God” we fashion in our own minds is a caricature—a warped, deformed, blasphemous image of the reality we look for in all the wrong places.
- Gospel: In the beginning, God created man in His own image. And in the fullness of time, God assumed that image Himself. The Son of God became also a Son of Adam, Son of David, and Son of Mary. In so doing, He reimaged us re-created us to be as He is. He became what we are to make us what He is: children of the heavenly Father. And He revealed where He is to be found: swaddled in His Gospel and Sacraments.
December 7, 2008: An Angel Visits Mary
The text for this lesson is Luke 1:26–38.
Key Points
- In the womb of Mary, Jesus, the Son of God, became a man so that we sinful people might become adopted children of God and share in the inheritance of heaven.
- Law: I am sinful at birth, sinful from the time of my conception, and thus spiritually dead. We don’t grow into being sinners any more than we grow into being humans. From the second we are alive, we are also dead spiritually. We join David in his lament: “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”
- Gospel: God’s Son, Jesus, as born sinless in order to take my sin upon Himself and redeem me. The Son of God leaves no part of our lives unredeemed. He crosses every t and dots every i in the human experience. Even as a tiny fetus, a near-microscopic baby, God—Jesus—is our Savior. Holy from the time His mother conceived Him, He makes us holy from the womb to the tomb.
