Strategies for Life’s Most Challenging Struggles!

The 500th Anniversary of the New Testament in the Language of the People 1522 – 2022

The Bible in 3-D

Our Victory Lap!
Strategies for Life’s Most Challenging Struggles

Romans 8:31-39: What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

romans8-37
Martin Luther on Romans 8:

St. Paul comforts fighters of sinful desires. He tells us that Christ has given us his Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit makes us spiritual and restrains the flesh. The Holy Spirit assures us that we are God’s children no matter how furiously sin may rage within us, so long as we follow the Spirit and struggle against sin in order to kill it. Because nothing is so effective in deadening the flesh as the cross and suffering, Paul comforts us in our suffering. He says that the Spirit, love and all creatures will stand by us; the Spirit in us groans and all creatures long with us that we be freed from the flesh and from sin.
Luther made four points for us to think about.

First, “in this way [God] wants to make us conformed to the image of his dear Son, Christ, so that we may become like him here in suffering and there in that life to come in honor and glory.” So, we suffer in this life, so that we would be like our Lord Jesus who suffered in this life. Being like Him here in this life, we will be like Him in the life to come, with honor and glory.
Second, “even though God does not want to assault and torment us, the devil does, and he cannot abide the Word.” What does Luther mean ? He means that the devil wants us to suffer because of God’s Word, but God uses this suffering so that we may learn that the Word is greater than the devil: “Then our Lord God looks on for a while and puts us in a tight place, so that we may learn from our own experience that the small, weak, miserable Word is stronger than the devil and the gates of hell.”

Third, Luther says, “it is also highly necessary that we suffer not only that God may prove his honor, power, and strength against the devil, but also in order that when we are not in trouble and suffering this excellent treasure which we have may not merely make us sleepy and secure.” God gives suffering so that we wouldn’t get sleepy in this life, but always look to the treasure we have in Jesus and His eternal promises which will be ours forever—as Paul says, “this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Cor. 4:17).

Lastly, Luther says, “Christian suffering is nobler and precious above all other human suffering because, since Christ himself suffered, he also hallowed the suffering of all his Christians.” When Christians suffer, it is a suffering which Christ Himself has made holy for them.

In fact, Luther says, “when people without faith run into affliction and suffering, they have nothing to comfort them, for they do not have the mighty promises and the confidence in God which Christians have. Therefore, they cannot comfort themselves with the assurance that God will help them to bear the affliction, much less can they count on it that he will turn their affliction and suffering to good.”

There is a special component to sufferings for the Christian. Not only has Christ made their suffering holy, but there is also special hope. There is the hope that points to this work of God, this work which conforms us to the image of Jesus. This work points to God’s own words and promises to overcome the world and the evil one. This work draws us to eternal hope. There is hope in who this God is as the Almighty One who loves us and cares for us. He is the God who proved His love and sent His Son to suffer and die for us. If He has done this, will He not certainly in His love do what is best for us in all things? Yes, yes, it shall be so.

On a personal note, my wife and I selected this Bible verse for our wedding as a reminder that we would always remain connected to God and His love in the face of unknown challenges we might face together in this life.

Comments: hbitten@reverendluther.org

Step Five – Witnessing for Jesus

The 500^th Anniversary of the New Testament in the Language of the People 1522 – 2022

The Digital Disciples Series

WITNESSING – Step 5

Why do we need witnesses?

Disciples provide us with information that is real truth!

Acts 1:8 “‘But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’”

witness

A disciple is a witness who shares what he or she has learned and experienced about Jesus. A witness helps to determine the truth about an event. Disciples are witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus Christ and that God’s Word as written in the Holy Bible is the truth. This fundamental fact defies reason which is why humans cannot understand or accept the resurrection, even with historical documentation. In fact, the people in Paul’s congregation in Corinth denied the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It can only be understood and accepted through faith. This is why Luther wrote

“But here you notice how Paul adduces Scripture as his strongest proof, for there is no other enduring way of preserving our doctrine and our faith than the physical or written Word, poured into letters and preached orally by him or others; for here we find it stated clearly; “Scripture! Scripture!”‘

The Lutheran Reformation is all about, the truth of God’s Word. Peter confessed his faith when Jesus asked him what he believed, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). Paul wrote, “Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, ‘I believed, and so I spoke,’ we also believe, and so we also speak” (2 Corinthians 4:13).

Comments: hbitten@reverendluther.org

Restoring Life to Jairus’ Daughter

Healing the Sick Woman and Restoring Life to Jairus’ Daughter

Mark 5:21-43 ²¹When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. ²²Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. ²³He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” ²⁴So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around him.

²⁵And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. ²⁶She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. ²⁷When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, ²⁸because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” ²⁹Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

³⁰At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

³¹“You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”

³²But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. ³³Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. ³⁴He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

³⁵While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?”

³⁶Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

³⁷He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. ³⁸When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. ³⁹He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” ⁴⁰But they laughed at him.

After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. ⁴¹He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). ⁴²Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. ⁴³He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.

The Raising of Jairus’ Daughter by Gabriel Cornelius Ritter von Max (1878)

Miracles presented a problem for artists because of the difficulty in capturing the main point of the event and the atmosphere surrounding the event. In this painting we do not see the desperation of the family and friends whose young daughter has died. Jesus is not the focal point of the painting and is lost in the darkness. Our attention is on the young girl dressed in white but still sleeping and lifeless. Miracles were a problem for people living in the Enlightenment because they denied the natural order of things. Thomas Jefferson edited the Bible and removed the stories of miracles from it. The message of the Bible in the 18^th and 19^th centuries was on morality rather than faith.

Is it important to see the figure of Christ or the miracle of the young girl coming to life? How would Jesus feel about his place in this painting? As you read the Bible verses and analyze the painting, what is the most important part of the story?

Luther: “These are the words of such a teacher. And He is worthy of being believed by the faithful. He must say: ‘To me, death is not death, but a sleep. In My sight, no one dies; but all are only sleeping.’ We must answer: ‘Amen, my Lord. I believe. Help me believe, my Christ. You do not lie.’ It is Your gift that I do not lie to myself, but believe firmly that I cannot die eternally; the fact that I die means that I shall sleep for a time. Only give me this faith. You are the one who says to these crowds and flute players: ‘Go away,’ so that they will go away and stop troubling and ridiculing this faith of mine. Unless You tell them to go away, I shall be unable to stand against them. Meanwhile, I shall believe that when I die I shall not die, but fall asleep; that when I am dead I am still living, because I live to You, whom I believe. And You are the one who makes alive, You who say concerning me: ‘He is not dead; rather, to me he is living and is sleeping for a time until I awaken him so that he may be alive to himself as well.’”

According to Robert Kolb in Luther and the Stories of God, Christ sees the world differently than we do. David had seen himself as a poor shepherd, and so had the world, but Christ viewed him as a king. We see ourselves as sinners but Christ sees us as saints. Jesus speaks two words ‘Talitha koum’ and a dead girl gets up! (p. 80)

Comments: hbitten@reverendluther.org

Healing the Centurion’s Servant

How was it possible for the faith of the centurion to heal his servant? Do you agree or disagree with Martin Luther that alien faith needs to be rejected?

Luke 7:1-10: When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. ²There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. ³The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. ⁴When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, ⁵because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” ⁶So Jesus went with them.

He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. ⁷That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. ⁸For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

⁹When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” ¹⁰Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.

Healing the Centurion’s Servant by Paolo Veronese (1580)

Paolo Veronese was an Italian Renaissance painter from Venice known for his historic and religious paintings. His challenge is to tell the story of the healing of the servant while focusing on the faith of the centurion. Two of the centurion’s helmeted soldiers are with their commander as Jesus compassionately gestures to the kneeling soldier. The large painting is at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.

Luther: Luther preached on the miracles of the healing of the lepers and the centurion’s servant on the Third Sunday after Epiphany in 1529. It is a remarkable message about faith without merit or works. The lepers call upon Jesus for mercy and healing and the faith of the centurion heals his servant. Yet, the gospels are clear that we are called to faith by the Holy Spirit and that the faith of one person does not save someone else. This will raise questions about the faith of infant and young children and prayers of a faithful parent for an unbelieving son or daughter. The question is does the faith of a parent save their child? “Now the question is, what becomes of the young children, seeing that they have not yet reason and are not able to believe for themselves, because it is written in Romans 10:17: “Belief cometh of hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” Little children neither hear nor understand the Word of God, and therefore they can have no faith of their own.”

Excerpt from Martin Luther’s sermon in January 1529: “Herein is the great faith of this heathen that he knows salvation does not depend upon the bodily presence of Christ, for this does not avail, but upon the Word and faith. But the apostles did not yet know this, neither perhaps did His mother, but they clung to His bodily presence and were not willing to let it go, John 16:6. They did not cling to His Word alone. But this heathen is so fully satisfied with His Word, that he does not even desire His presence nor does he deem himself worthy of it. Moreover, he proves his strong faith by a comparison and says: I am a man and can do what I wish with mine own by a word; should not you be able to do what you wish by a word, because I am sure, and you also prove that health and sickness, death and life are subject to you as my servants are to me? Therefore also his servant was healed in that hour by the power of his faith.

Now since the occasion is offered and this Gospel requires it, we must say a little about alien faith and its power for many are interested in this subject, especially on account of the little children, who are baptized and are saved not by their own, but by the faith of others; just as this servant was healed not by his own faith, but by the faith of his master. We have never yet treated of this matter; therefore we must treat of it now in order to anticipate, as much as in us lies future danger and error.

First we must let the foundation stand firm and sure, that nobody will be saved by the faith or righteousness of another, but only by his own; and on the other hand nobody will be condemned for the unbelief or sins of another, but for his own unbelief; as the Gospel says clearly and distinctly in Mark 16:16: “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned.” “The righteous shall live by faith.” And John 3:16-18: “Whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life. He that believeth on him is not judged: he that believeth not hath been judged already.” These are clear, public words, that everyone must believe for himself, and nobody can help himself by the faith of others., without his own faith. From these passages we dare not depart and we must not deny them, let them strike where they may, and we ought rather let the world perish than change this divine truth. And if any plausible argument is made against it, that you are not able to refute, you must confess that you do not understand the matter and commit it to God, rather than admit anything contrary to these clear statements. Whatever may become of the heathen, Jews, Turks, little children and everything that exists, these words must be right and true.”

Comments: hbitten@reverendluther.org

Decision: The Wide or Narrow Gate?

The Narrow and Wide Gate

Why does the Christian faith describe such a difficult journey through life?

Matthew 7:13-14: ¹³“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ¹⁴But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

broadandnarrowgerman

The Narrow Gate – a drawing by Charlotte Reihlen (1862)

Charlotte Reihlen was converted to the Christian faith by the Rev. Ludwig Hofacker of Stuttgart. Her conversion made her husband angry and he left her and took a boat to the United States. While in America, her husband repented of his sin and decided to return home to his wife in Germany. Charlotte founded a Deaconess House and a middle school for girls. She probably educated 500 young girls and women.

The painting is an allegory of passages from Scripture and there are many points that are unexplained, ambiguous, and subject to criticism. For example, the fence between the two paths and the Prodigal son on the narrow path.

Luther: Martin Luther touches on this in Concerning Christian Liberty, when he writes, “Christian faith has appeared to many an easy thing; nay, not a few even reckon it among the social virtues, as it were; and this they do because they have not made proof of it experimentally, and have never tasted of what efficacy it is.”

Luther understood that faith does not lead to a journey on the easy path. In Concerning Christian Liberty, Luther writes of our obligation to our neighbor and people we may not even have a relationship with. Following the life of Jesus, accepting those who hurt and abuse us, forgiving sins, and resisting temptation are the most difficult things in life. People who have faith in Jesus Christ discover the meaning of life and the joy of living an abundant life in God’s grace!

Comments: hbitten@reverendluther.org

Jesus is the Great Physician

Will our children inherit our values?

Matthew 9: 12-13: On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. ¹³But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Jesus Great Physician

The Physician’s Prayer

category_50

Chief of Medical Staff

Type = ArtScans RGB : Gamma = 1.6

The Family of God

Nathan Greene is a freelance artist known for his Christian art and historical and geographic scenes. One of the most difficult assignments for an artist is to paint Jesus Christ because our image of the historical Jesus has been influenced by artists throughout history. Nathan Greene’s art illustrates the personality of Jesus as a picture of love, grace, and comfort. The paintings above are about Matthew 9:12-13.

The pastor, priest, artist, this blog writer attempts to translate Jesus into the realism of our daily lives. For people of faith, the presence of Jesus Christ with family, in times of serious illness or accident, and in the context of the big picture of the diversity of God’s presence in lives throughout history is one of comfort and confidence.

For people who lack faith, it is the words of Jesus in Matthew 9:12-13 that have deep meaning. The presence and love of God comes to us in His Holy Spirit when we need it the most because of sin, guilt, loneliness, and physical, mental, and emotional needs. The words of Matthew assure us that Jesus knows our name and He comes to us in different ways every day. But it is when we need a physician or Savior that we see His grace and love.

Martin Luther wrote in his commentary on Matthew 9:13, “Therefore, what He is saying is that it is His Father’s will that He should call sinners and not the righteous. He comes not to judge the world but to save the world (John 3:17) and this by the will of the Father.”

Jesus is saying, “I am calling sinners to repentance according to the forgiveness of sins, to make them righteous twice over, that is, by grace and in truth. (John 1:14,17). By grace, because their sins have been forgiven. In truth, because they are truly beginning to be good and to do good works.”

Repentance is putting sins to death! In forgiveness we are called to the continuous effort of recognizing the evil of hating, prejudice, judging, and separating ourselves from God. Our children will inherit our wealth when we die but we also want them to inherit our values – values of forgiveness, acceptance, love, grace, truth, justice, understanding the eternal promise of God and worshiping Him as Savior and Lord!

hbitten@reverendluther.org

When Jacob Met Esau

Jacob Doubted God When he Returned Home to Face Esau

When did God surprise you?

Genesis 32: Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of God met him. ²When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is the camp of God!” So he named that place Mahanaim.

³Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. ⁴He instructed them: “This is what you are to say to my lord Esau: ‘Your servant Jacob says, I have been staying with Laban and have remained there till now. ⁵I have cattle and donkeys, sheep and goats, male and female servants. Now I am sending this message to my lord, that I may find favor in your eyes.’” ⁶When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.”

⁷In great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups, and the flocks and herds and camels as well. ⁸He thought, “If Esau comes and attacks one group, the group that is left may escape.”

⁹Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, Lord, you who said to me, ‘Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,’ ¹⁰I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two camps. ¹¹Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children. ¹²But you have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.’”

¹³He spent the night there, and from what he had with him he selected a gift for his brother Esau: ¹⁴two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, ¹⁵thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. ¹⁶He put them in the care of his servants, each herd by itself, and said to his servants, “Go ahead of me, and keep some space between the herds.”

¹⁷He instructed the one in the lead: “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘Who do you belong to, and where are you going, and who owns all these animals in front of you?’ ¹⁸then you are to say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau, and he is coming behind us.’”

¹⁹He also instructed the second, the third and all the others who followed the herds: “You are to say the same thing to Esau when you meet him. ²⁰And be sure to say, ‘Your servant Jacob is coming behind us.’” For he thought, “I will pacify him with these gifts I am sending on ahead; later, when I see him, perhaps he will receive me.” ²¹So Jacob’s gifts went on ahead of him, but he himself spent the night in the camp.

Genesis 33 Jacob looked up and there was Esau, coming with his four hundred men; so he divided the children among Leah, Rachel and the two female servants. ²He put the female servants and their children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph in the rear. ³He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother.

⁴But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept. ⁵Then Esau looked up and saw the women and children. “Who are these with you?” he asked.

Jacob answered, “They are the children God has graciously given your servant.” ⁶Then the female servants and their children approached and bowed down. ⁷Next, Leah and her children came and bowed down. Last of all came Joseph and Rachel, and they too bowed down. ⁸Esau asked, “What’s the meaning of all these flocks and herds I met?” “To find favor in your eyes, my lord,” he said.

⁹But Esau said, “I already have plenty, my brother. Keep what you have for yourself.” ¹⁰“No, please!” said Jacob. “If I have found favor in your eyes, accept this gift from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me favorably. ¹¹Please accept the present that was brought to you, for God has been gracious to me and I have all I need.” And because Jacob insisted, Esau accepted it. ¹²Then Esau said, “Let us be on our way; I’ll accompany you.” Jacob Meets Esau by Francesco Hayez (1844)

Jacob deceived his father Isaac, who was nearly blind, for the birthright. His twin brother Esau was furious over this deceit and Jacob left the land of Canaan where his grandfather, Abraham, had lived. He has been away from his family for 20 years and receives word that his brother Esau is coming to meet him, with a following of 400 men.

Jacob fears the worst and in his desperation turns to God in prayer. The first lesson he learned was that prayer is not a simple request but a persistent struggle with God. The story in the previous chapter describes a physical encounter with an angel of God with the dislocation of Jacob’s hip. It is a powerful story, similar to how Jesus prayed three times in the Garden of Gethsemane when He was faced with betrayal and death by crucifixion.

We learn in this picture the importance of humility and falling on our knees before God and other people we have hurt. We also learn of God’s blessing in that Esau accepted his brother Jacob and asked for no retribution; only love and acceptance. Hayez portrays the powerful Esau embracing his deceptive twin brother.

We learn the importance of having faith in God and trusting His wisdom over our cleverness – or the advice of Pastor Google and friends. This is such a powerful story for anyone who struggles with a broken relationship, medical issue, alienation, and loneliness. We might say that this story and picture is a powerful lesson about human behavior. In Luther’s lecture (commentary) on Genesis 33, he speaks directly to how God intervenes inwardly to change hatred into reconciliation and acceptance. Luther explains this as a miracle!

“Esau again inquires what these companies are than he may have an opportunity to converse more familiarly with his brother and to emulate him in mutual love and goodwill. It appears that he had not yet received the gifts sent by Jacob. One cannot say what the reason was. Whether it was that he was still burning with hatred and refused to listen to the messengers sent before he saw his brother actually humbling himself, or whether he refused to accept the gifts, moved by special kindness and mercy since he had become milder and had seen the companies offered by his brother, I do not really know. But it seems that he refused the gifts more out of goodwill than hatred.

I will interpret it so that it remains established that this victory worked the miracle that Esau’s heart was changed and placated. So it can be that while his anger was still hot, he set out with the 400 armed men to terrify and kill his brother. But when he saw him humiliated and sending gifts, the Lord’s hand intervened and changed his heart so that he said: ‘Why should I do violence to my brother? why should I take anything from a good and upright man, a needy exile? The Lord has blessed me more bountifully than He blessed my brother; it would be fair for me to relieve his need by the abundance of my possessions. Why, then, should I accept gifts at his hand?’

God works this inwardly through the Spirit, but outwardly through means, the respectful possession and the offering of gifts, although Esau does not seem to have accepted them because of the very great zeal and love with which he embraces his reconciled brother.” (Luther’s Works: Lectures on Genesis. pp.169-170)

Comments: hbitten@reverendluther.org

In Christ Alone by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend (2001)

In Christ Alone – Keith Getty and Stuart Townend, Northern Ireland/England (2001)

How does this song help us to understand that Jesus Christ has been present in the lives of billions of people since the first century?

In Christ alone my hope is found / He is my light, my strength, my song / This Cornerstone, this solid ground / Firm through the fiercest drought and storm / What heights of love, what depths of peace / When fears are stilled, when strivings cease / My Comforter, my All in All / Here in the love of Christ I stand. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNRFumI2ch0

Pieta, Sculpture by Michelangelo (1499)

The hymn published in 2002 is based on a series of Bible verses relating to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Michelangelo carved this sculpture from one block of marble and it is the only sculpture he signed. It shows the mother of Jesus holding the crucified Jesus Christ, the Son of God and her natural born son. Jesus is at peace as His love for us is now complete in His sacrifice on the cross.

In Christ alone my hope is found; This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance (and for this we labor and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe. 1 Timothy 4:9-10

He is my light, my strength, my song; Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD : The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. Exodus 15:2

This cornerstone, this solid ground, Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. Ephesians 2:19-21

Firm through the fiercest drought and storm. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 3:11

What heights of love, what depths of peace, This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 1 John 4:10

When fears are stilled, when strivings cease! There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 1 John 4:18

My comforter, my all in all— Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. Colossians 3:11

Here in the love of Christ I stand. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20

Martin Luther’s comments on this Epistle are: “St. Paul teaches, first, what the Gospel is, telling how it was provided by God alone in eternity and earned and sent forth through Christ, so that all who believe on it become righteous, godly, living, saved men, and free from the law and sin and death. This he does in the first three chapters.

Then he teaches that different doctrines and the commandments of men are to be avoided, so that we may remain true to one Head and become sure and genuine and complete in Christ alone, in Whom we have everything, so that we need nothing beside Him.

Then he goes on to teach that we are to practice and prove our faith with good works, avoid sin, and fight with spiritual weapons against the devil, so that, through the Cross, we may be steadfast in hope.”

Comments: hbitten@optonline.net

Hymn Parade – It Is Well With My Soul

It is Well with My Soul by Horatio Spafford (1873)

When things fall apart, who do you go to for help?

(Perhaps a word of comfort to everyone who loses a loved one through a tragic accident act of violence, or natural death. Time is a human invention; our soul is the miracle of God’s creation!!!)

When peace like a river, attendeth my way / When sorrows like sea billows roll / Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to know / It is well, it is well, with my soul. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJ4p_L992D4

Psalm 46: 1-3: ¹God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. ²Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, ³though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.

Horatio Spafford was a prominent lawyer and businessman in Chicago at the time of the Civil War and presidency of Abraham Lincoln in the 1860s. They faced emotional and spiritual challenges in the 1870s as their son died of scarlet fever at the age of four and the Chicago fire destroyed all of their property along Lake Michigan. The Spaffords planned a family trip to London to get away from their troubles in November 1873.

It is Well With My Soul

Unfortunately, Horatio Spafford stayed in New York for an unexpected business situation. In the Atlantic their ship “Ville de Havre” collided with the English vessel “The Lochearn” and sank within 12 minutes claiming 226 lives, including Horatio Spafford’s four daughters. His wife survived. Horatio boarded the next ship to London and when the captain notified him of the probable location of the tragedy, he composed the lyrics to this hymn. Romans 8:31-39 is also referenced in this hymn.

Martin Luther was also inspired to write the hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” by the words of Psalm 46. We sing this hymn because God is with us and He defends and preserves us against all hatred, struggles, and sin. In our hour of trial we turn to God who loves us and comforts us!!!

Comments: hbitten@reverendluther.org