MONDAY
Without thinking too deeply about our text from Matthew this morning, it can look like the sheep and the goats receive their respective rewards based on the goodness of their works. The sheep have done good and receive eternal life. The goats haven’t done good works, and so they receive eternal condemnation. But it’s important to remember that the sheep are entirely unaware of what works they’ve done, while the goats are the ones who’ve kept count. In other words, the sheep don’t bother keeping track of the works they’ve done because they already know they’ve been made worthy of eternal life through the blood of Jesus Christ. And the goats don’t trust in that blood, so they keep track of all their supposed good works. They argue with Jesus, convinced that He got everything wrong. They’ve made themselves worthy and this idiot judge doesn’t have the receipts they gave him.
And so, in the end, we see a reflection of the relationship between good works and faith that we Lutherans like to articulate thusly: Good works are the result of salvation, not the cause of salvation. We don’t inherit eternal life because we’ve lived holy lives. We live holy lives because we’ve inherited eternal life through faith in Christ alone. So if you find yourself keeping track of your good works, if you’re making notes to yourself so that you can have evidence to shove in the face of anyone who dares suggest you aren’t living righteously, repent. Turn from your pride and put your trust in the one who has already made you righteous. Trust in Christ, the one who does not need any good works to make you holy and, paradoxically, He will keep a list of your good works for you. Trust in Christ, and the good works will flow from your heart while you are not even paying attention to them. Trust in Christ and on the last day, you will be judged according to the works you didn’t even know that you did, and then the verdict will be issued according to the righteousness of your Savior. On that day, you will be found worthy of eternal life and you will rest with your Savior forever.
TUESDAY
It’s a funny thing. We are always excellent stewards of someone else’s money. Whenever we see how someone else uses his or her possessions in service of the Gospel, we are always convinced that we would have done a better job if those possessions had been ours. If we were filthy rich like those people over there, we would have given our treasures to more urgent projects in the congregation, to more deserving charities, to more effective mission organizations that would have reached more people. If we had owned that albastar flask, we wouldn’t have wasted it on anointing the feet of Jesus. We would have given that money to the poor. We would have been wiser, purer, more disciplined in our stewardship.
So that’s what we tell ourselves. But, of course, Judas was angry about the anointing of Christ’s feet because he was losing out on funds that he could have nicked from the moneybag. And I imagine that the rest of the disciples tut-tutted this woman’s actions not out of genuine concern for the poor, but out of humiliation, because she showed Jesus a greater honor than they thought to.
But when Jesus says, “the poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me,” He shows us where our hearts should be. In this life of sorrows, there will always be people in need, hungry mouths, empty hearts needing to be filled with the Gospel. So don’t fix your eyes on the offerings of others. Fix your eyes on Christ, the Bread of Life who will feed you and fill you. Fix your eyes on the one anointed with blood at Calvary so that you could live with Him in paradise, so that you could inherit the unfathomable riches of His kingdom. In Christ, you have been anointed in the ointment of forgiveness, life, and salvation. Focus on your Lord and your own stewardship, and God will work all things together for your good.
WEDNESDAY
What exactly is Judas doing when he asks Jesus if he is the one who will betray Him? He’s already conspired with the chief priests and Satan has already put betrayal into his heart, as John’s gospel tells us, so Judas certainly isn’t asking this for the same reason the other disciples are. They’re all genuinely concerned that it might be them. But Judas, it seems, is asking this question to play the part, to appear as innocent as the rest of his group.
Likewise, it may well be that Judas is sussing out whether Jesus actually knows what he intends to do. And Jesus responds in a manner that should send shivers down the betrayer’s spine. When all the other disciples ask if they’re the one, Jesus gives a non-specific answer. But when Judas asks, our Lord replies, “you have said so.” In other words, “you know full well that you are. You are condemned by your own words.”
So don’t play dumb with God. When your heart is filled with betrayal, when you’re clinging to your sins and refusing to God, don’t say to your God, “is what I’m doing really wrong? Are my intentions really impure? Am I not trying my best? Is it actually sinful for me to cling to these things that make me happy?”
When you’re trying to justify your anger, your pride, your lust, your greed, your self-glorification, your Lord has already responded to you in these words He spoke to Judas. “You have said so.” You’re condemned by your own words. So do what Judas didn’t. In repentance, run to the cross of Christ, cast your thirty pieces of silver at His feet and beg Him for mercy. And He will clothe you in it. He will shower you in the crimson forgiveness that poured out from His veins. He will destroy your every sin and wrap you in the warmth of His steadfast love. Don’t try to fool your Lord. Flee to Him and there you will watch as He grabs your betrayal by the throat and writes it out of existence.
THURSDAY
When Jesus rebukes the disciples for falling asleep as He prays in Gethsemane, I think there are two things going on here. First, Jesus is rebuking them for their inattentiveness, for their unwillingness to understand the sorrow and the hardship that is looming over Him. But second, there’s a rather tragic yet beautiful mystery at play. Jesus is hurt because He needs the love and support of His disciples and He’s not getting it. Our Lord is so overwhelmed with sorrow that He’s sweating drops of blood. He knows He can’t escape the unfathomable pain He’s about to endure. He wants to lean on His brothers to find the strength and encouragement to carry the literal cross He’s about to take up.
It’s fascinating, isn’t it? The Son of God who does not need anything from man needs something from man. The Son of God who is all glorious, all powerful, almighty on His own, in this moment, He needs the love of His brothers. The Son of God who took on human flesh to rescue you and make you His brother, He actually wants you to be His brother, His real brother. He doesn’t want you to be a mere spiritual idea, a literary or poetic concept. He wants you to be united with Him in the way that brothers walking through tragedy together are united. That’s what He wants, and that’s what He offers you.
So come receive it. Run to the one who endured all upon the cross to make you His own. Run to the one you would not lift up but who still swore to lift you from the grave. Run to your brother. And He will rejoice to receive you, even more than you would rejoice to see the beloved brother you were separated from for fifty years.
FRIDAY
In a sense, when St. Peter denies his Lord three times, what he’s really doing three times is choosing hell. Hell is, after all, separation from God. It’s being as far as one can be from the arms of your Father in heaven. And in the moment of his terror and weakness, distance from God seems like Peter’s best option. Hell seems better than the violence and cruelty he might suffer if he admits being attached to Jesus.
But out of His mercy, our Lord does not let Peter remain in his delusions. As Peter keeps His distance, Jesus slams the doors of hell shut to His disciple. He bleeds and dies, destroys Peter’s cowardice forever. And on the third day, she appears before the terrified coward, huddled with his brothers in a locked room out of fear. He stands before Peter and declares that he now has peace with God. He doesn’t need hell. He doesn’t need distance from God to be safe. He gives Peter the promise of salvation which then gives Peter the courage to eventually receive a cross of his own, closing his eyes as a martyr but opening them again in the kingdom as a son of God.
No matter how much the world rages and storms against you, distance from God will not help you. Embracing hell in the next life to escape what feels like hell in this life will not win you safety or comfort. But Jesus already has. Jesus has destroyed your sins. He’s died for your transgressions. He rose for your justification. He has made you eternally pleasing to the God who wants to hold you in His embrace forever. If the world tries to make you choose between your life and your God, choose your God because no man can truly take the life that Jesus claimed as His own in the waters of your baptism. Stay close to your God in this life and He will hold you even closer in the next.
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