TEXT: St. Luke 3:1-14, Advent II 2006

THEME: All Flesh Will See the Salvation of God

In the Name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The kings of old, before coming among their people, would send the royal herald. The royal herald would precede his master and announce the coming of the king, readying the people for him. In the same manner, God the Father sent the son of Zechariah, St. John the Forerunner. The Forerunner comes, not as a regular herald, but as the last of the holy prophets and as the divine herald, announcing the coming of the King of Righteousness; the Messiah. By the preaching and preparation of the Forerunner, the way of the Lord would be prepared; and after the period of John’s preparation all flesh would see the Salvation of God. Yet, the prophet did not preach some immaterial, vague notion of freedom. He preached the physical, concrete, fleshly Salvation of God: the King Messiah: a King far greater than either Caesar, Pilate, Herod, Philip, or Lysanias; a Priest far greater than either Annas or Caiaphas; the Christ, the Son of the living God. He is the Salvation of God who will be seen by all flesh.

Near the same place where the Israelites crossed the Jordan from the wilderness to enter into the Promised Land, St. John baptizes. Like the crossing of the Israelites, the Forerunner’s baptism was prepatory; it was to make straight the path of the Lord. For the Messiah must enter His holy city unimpeded and accomplish His destiny. The road made crooked by brokenness must be made straight through the preaching of St. John which calls for repentance. John’s baptism was to bring people to the One in whom they would find forgiveness and every grace of God: the Messiah. Yet, some of those in the hearing of the Forerunner contented themselves with the fact that they were descendants of Abraham. Surely, noble birth would be enough to save them; but yet, the Forerunner could see no fruit of faith, only the reliance upon the nobility of their ancestor. They neither needed St. John’s preaching nor his Messiah. God would not damn the sons and daughters of Abraham, would He?

These men the Forerunner calls a “brood of vipers;” not simply the offspring of reptiles, but, in fact, the very children of the devil himself. Often, you too would be as children of the devil. For you often find yourself content with your own works as being enough to save you. Or you find comfort in false religion which tells you to simply live a good life. Do not be fooled. Your flesh does not bring any profit nor do your works save you. The status of your birth or family does not save you. Nothing of men saves you. Yet, sadly, there still remain among you those who would believe this. Any teaching or teacher who claims a way of salvation other than the Blood of the holy Messiah is of the devil; for only the Messiah’s death saves you. Flee from the devil’s works and ways. Hear the words of St. John the Forerunner and repent.

John speaks of a wrath to come. Yet, the wrath to come would not be poured out upon those who believe and confess the merits of the Messiah’s substitutionary death nor will it be poured out upon you who believe the same. After the time of John’s preparation, all men would see the Salvation of God of whom he preached. The Messiah was to be lifted up on the wood of a cross, bearing the sins of all mankind. There, the fiery, vengeful wrath of His Father would be poured out upon Him. This is the coming wrath of which the Forerunner preached. But the wrath of the Father was poured out upon the Son for you and for your children. By bearing your sins in His body and suffering the wrath of the Father for them, the Messiah has taken your sins from you and done away with them. This is the Salvation of which the prophet preached: the Messiah, bearing the sins of all and making atonement for all men before His Father. It is the death of the Messiah which makes you pure and blameless.

To those who would comfort themselves with the fact that Abraham was their father, the Forerunner says God could cause sons of Abraham to exist from the stones. Rejoice at this message, for it refers to you. For the stones to which the prophet refers to are not irrational, material stones but to those who are not of the physical line of Abraham. Most of you are probably not of the blood line of Abraham and, therefore, you are a stone. Yet, the promise of eternal life and salvation has been given to you by the Son of God Himself, the Messiah. The destructive fire of God’s wrath was poured out upon Him as He hung dying on the cross. Now, the fire of God is no longer destructive but purifying, and it is now poured out upon you as a refiner’s fire; this purifying fire was poured out on you in your Baptism. No longer do you walk as a child of the devil, but as a stone made by God in the waters of Holy Baptism into a living son of Abraham; a son of the promise. You have been refined by the Holy Spirit and fire and have been brought into the Messiah’s Kingdom where you will see Him on your last day face to face.

Yet, men still see Him who is the Salvation of God today. To this day, the Messiah sits upon the Altar, encased in bread and wine. There you see Him, the Salvation of God, as He comes to you to feed you and to nurture you. There you see Him as He feeds you with His very Body and His very Blood; the same Body and Blood proclaimed by the Forerunner, the same Body and Blood upon which the Father poured out His wrath, and the same Body and Blood which makes you holy and makes you too a child of the promise. As you see the Salvation of God, He feeds you Himself with Himself for your forgiveness and your salvation.

Moreover, you still hear Him who is the Salvation of God. Whenever you hear the words of Holy Absolution pronounced over you and you hear the preaching of Christ’s Word by the pastor, you yourself hear Christ’s very voice. Through these gifts of His, He makes you partakers of His grace. It is through His grace that you are enabled to bear the ripe fruit of faith. Yet, those who are false believers and hypocrites will be swiftly severed completely from Christ’s holy Church and fiercely cast into eternal fire; for behold, the axe is already laid at the root of the trees. But He has made you partakers of His grace, filling you with His fruits of righteousness. It is Christ, and Christ alone, who enables you to serve His Father with the pure mind of faith.

Rejoice, for the Lord has returned to His faithful people; it is He who is the very Salvation of God in the flesh that has come unto you. This is He of whom the Forerunner preached. It is He who has saved you from your sins and who has made you a child of His promise. It is He whom you see as He feeds you with His Body and Blood and wipes away all your sins. This is the Messiah, the Salvation of God. It is He who brings you to good works for you have been ingrafted into Him who is the ultimate good fruit: Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Salvation of God.

In the Name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.