Advent 3, 2023
Rev. Thomas Van Hemert
St. Matthew 11:2-10
Gaudete
December 17, 2023
In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit.
This Sunday takes its name, Gaudete, from the first word of the Introit, “Rejoice in the Lord always; and again, I say, rejoice.” These are St. Paul’s words to the Church in Philippi. Along with rejoicing, St. Paul also encourages the saints in Philippi to “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” At the same time, St. Paul is also speaking to us through Holy Scripture. He breaks into our Advent watchfulness this morning, likewise, with the cry, “Rejoice in the Lord always; and again, I say, rejoice.”
This Sunday is a little different than the other Sundays in Advent. Advent is a penitential season. We do things a little differently in the Divine Service during the penitential seasons—Advent and Lent. Generally, there is less chanting, the Gloria in Excelsis is omitted from the liturgy, flowers are absent from the chancel, we don’t have a recessional hymn, and the like. We fast from these things, in order that we might better enjoy them when they return at Christmas and Easter. However, today, the third Sunday in Advent is a little different from the first, second, and fourth Sundays because of what the theme of this Sunday is—rejoice!
The theme for this Sunday is “rejoice!” Some noticeable ceremonies that differ for this Sunday are quite obvious. Instead of the color violet, we use rose. We also have flowers on the altar. Much of our hymnody deals with themes of comfort and rejoicing, for example: LSB 345 – Hark! A Thrilling Voice is Sounding, LSB 354 – Arise, O Christian People, LSB 347 – Comfort, Comfort Ye My People, LSB 737 – Rejoice, My Heart, Be Glad and Sing, and LSB 897 – O Rejoice, Ye Christians, Loudly.
When it comes to the hymns and the readings appointed for this Sunday in Advent, we are certainly keeping with what St. Paul would have us do by rejoicing, because we know the Lord is at hand. He is coming soon. He is, in fact, the Coming One. He first came as a baby. He comes to us now in Word and Sacrament. And He will come again on the Last Day. Part of the reasoning for our rejoicing is because of the fact that we will one day leave this place. We will depart this sinful world to reside in the King’s Palace. We will wear soft clothing. The Bridegroom will come for us. We will be given the wedding garment and will be permitted to enter into the wedding hall because we are the Baptized.
Jesus says that those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. Of course, the immediate context is that He’s speaking about the difference between Herod and John. Herod is in the king’s palace and he is wearing soft clothing. John is also in the king’s palace, but John isn’t wearing soft clothing. John is in the dungeon about to be martyred.
John had heard about the works of Christ and so he sent two of his disciples and said to Jesus, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” Whether John did this for the sake of his disciples, so that they would become Jesus’ disciples, or because John himself was doubting and needed some assurance, the text doesn’t really say. Of course, John’s disciples as well as John all benefit from what Jesus tells them. Jesus says, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: the blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the Gospel preached to them.” So even John’s two disciples see what Jesus is doing. They see Jesus healing the blind, lame, the deaf, lepers, raising the dead, and preaching to the poor. Matthew records that they get to see.
But not John.
John is in prison about to be executed. It doesn’t seem as though he has much to rejoice over. But the report that his disciples bring back to him can and should give him reason to rejoice. The prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled in the Coming One, Who is the Christ, Who is John’s own cousin. The report that John receives of what Jesus is doing, might not seem to us as though it would be that comforting, but in the grand scheme of things, it is. John knows he’s about to die. He has fulfilled his role as the last Prophet and he will soon be called to his eternal home. And because Jesus is giving sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, the ability to walk to the lame, cleansing lepers, and even raising the dead, John can find comfort and he can even be martyred in peace because John knows this life is not what matters. He knows He will be raised from the dead. He will lose his head but he will gain a crown. Jesus will take John’s place in death and then lead him out of the grave.
And so, in John, we see how one lives by faith. John doesn’t actually see these miracles Jesus performs. He’s locked away in prison. He only receives the report of what Jesus is doing. John must live by the Word that’s proclaimed to him. He must live by faith. Even though his world is crashing down around him, the only thing he has to hold onto is the Word that Jesus speaks. This is the only thing that he can believe in, take comfort in, and even rejoice in, even if he celebrates locked away in a dark dungeon. This is how it is for us as well. None of us has seen Jesus in the flesh. None of us have seen with our eyes any miracle that Jesus performed. None of us have seen a blind man miraculously receive his sight or a deaf man miraculously hear or have seen a person raised from the dead. We live by the Word of God. We live by faith. And the Word of God creates that faith in us.
The only reason we can have comfort in this dying world, the only reason we can rejoice is because Jesus died on the cross and rose on the third day. The benefits of which, are received through faith. This faith justifies. We call the faith that we have “Justifying Faith.”
So what is Justifying Faith?
There are three parts to Justifying Faith—faith that makes one righteous before God; faith that apprehends and takes hold of the benefits of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
The first part of Justifying Faith is historical knowledge of Jesus Christ and what He has accomplished for humanity. This means that we know and believe that there was a man, who is God in the flesh, and that He lived on earth, died, and rose again. Simple knowledge of that fact.
The second part of Justifying Faith is assent. This means that a Christian acknowledges and recognizes, or assents to promises of the Gospel and that what Holy Scripture says about Jesus is true.
The third part of Justifying faith is trust or confidence. This means that those who believe actually take hold of and know that what Jesus has done, He has done for them. Jesus loves everyone and He wants everyone to come to the knowledge of the truth and be eternally saved. No matter how bad or terrible of a sinner someone is, the blood of Jesus covers that sin. Jesus went to the cross and suffered the worst torment that anyone could suffer for everyone, no matter how bad one’s own sins are. Jesus has paid for everything. There is no sin that Jesus has not or cannot atone for. So we trust in this. We receive this great gift by faith. We have confidence in this. Jesus says, “Come to me, ye who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.” He makes no qualifications. He does not say, “Well only those who don’t sin that much.” He does not help those who can help themselves. He helps those who cannot, in any way, do anything for their own salvation. He gives all that is His, heaven, and His Kingdom to those who believe in Him for free. We can trust in what He says. We can have confidence in what He says and does through His Word.
So it is that Justifying Faith, or faith that saves, is not simply a historical knowledge of the past. This is the kind of faith that Muslims and modern Jews have. Sure they might acknowledge that Jesus was a real person, but they might not believe that He performed miracles or trust in Him as the Son of God, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
Likewise, the demons. They have historical knowledge of Jesus. And they even know and acknowledge that Jesus has divine power. Just a few chapters in Matthew before the Gospel reading for today, Jesus healed two demon-possessed men in the country of the Gerasenes and the demons cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God?” The demons are actually acknowledging that Jesus is the Son of God, but they don’t trust in Him as the Son of God.
But all three of these things—a historical knowledge revealed by the Scriptures, assent, and trust, make up Justifying faith. This is the faith of John the Baptist as he wasted away in prison. This is our faith as well. This is the faith that justifies us and by which, we are saved, and in which, we rejoice. To be sure, the three parts of Justifying faith should not be understood to be chronological but all intertwined. We do know that Jesus was a man, that He still is a man, and that He will come liberate us from this earthly prison as a man. And yet, that Man is God in the flesh. We also recognize that He can and does whatever He desires to do, such as heal people and raise people from the dead, which is what He’ll do on the Last Day for all of us. And so also do we put our trust in this. We have confidence and hope that despite our shortcomings, we will be perfected by the Grace of God on the Last Day.
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. John the Baptist did not see the great signs Jesus performed. Neither have we. But we take comfort in the fact that even now, this day, we receive the same Word of Christ that John did in prison, which creates and sustains faith, even still today.
Soon, we will have more than a report. Soon we’ll have more than the Word. Hopefully, sooner than later, we will all be with Jesus, the Word of God, the Lamb of God Who takes away our sin, and the sin of the world. So let us rejoice in the Lord always; and again I say, rejoice.
In +Jesus’ name.
