Preaching and Teaching from St. John Ev. Lutheran Church (Sherman Center), Random Lake, Wisconsin

Deuteronomy 32:48–52 (NKJV)48 Then the Lord spoke to Moses that very same day, saying: 49 “Go up this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, across from Jericho; view the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel as a possession; 50 and die on the mountain which you ascend, and be gathered to your people, just as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people; 51 because you trespassed against Me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah Kadesh, in the Wilderness of Zin, because you did not hallow Me in the midst of the children of Israel. 52 Yet you shall see the land before you, though you shall not go there, into the land which I am giving to the children of Israel.”

“This man deserves to die!” Notice who says it. Not the Babylonians. Not the pagans. The priests and the prophets. The men who wore the vestments and spoke in the Lord’s name stood in the Lord’s house and told the princes and all the people, “This man deserves to die! For he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your ears” (Jer. 26:11).Jeremiah’s crime was that he said what God sent him to say. The temple would become like Shiloh. The city would be a curse. Repent, or it will all come down. That’s a hard word to hear in church. So the church people did what church people still do with a hard word. They went after the man who said it.

READING1 Peter 1:3–9 (NKJV)3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 8 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.READINGJohn 15:17–21 (NKJV)17 These things I command you, that you love one another.18 “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. 21 But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me.

Deuteronomy 1:3 (NKJV)3 Now it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spoke to the children of Israel according to all that the Lord had given him as commandments to them.

The kingdom suffers violence in another sense, and it suffered all of it on one Friday. The King let Himself be taken. He was bound, beaten, mocked, and nailed to a cross. God “set forth [Him] as a propitiation by His blood, through faith” (Rom. 3:25). Every blow your sin deserved fell on Him. The thief who grabbed at Him was with Him in paradise that same day (Luke 23:43). You are “justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24). Freely. You pay no price and put on no performance. It is a gift.