Luther for the Busy Man

THE WEEK OF TRINITY V - SATURDAY LESSON: 2 CORINTHIANS 5:11-15 “Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men.” Luke 5:10 This is an evangelical word by which weak hearts may obtain consolation. We have seen in this Gospel how God looks after our bodily needs. He provided Peter with so many fish when he would have probably had enough with two or so. God also fills Peter so richly spiritual...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY V - FRIDAY LESSON: PSALM 143 If thou, O Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. Psalm 130:3-4 When you feel your sins and become like Peter with a desire to run away from God, you must turn around and get closer and closer to Him. For if God were disposed to flee from you and were not willing to take...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY V - THURSDAY LESSON: ROMANS 5:18-21 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the catch of fish which they had taken. Luke 5:8-9 We may take Peter here as an example of those who are to believe in the eternal blessings and actually see them. A sinful consc...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY V - WEDNESDAY LESSON: ROMANS 8:31-39 Hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us. Romans 5:5 God’s children must learn to combine their works with hope. God can delay results and sometimes deems it fitting to do so. If God keeps you in suspense for a time and lets you work in the sweat of you...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY V - TUESDAY LESSON: 2 THESSALONIANS 3:6-13 When he had ceased speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” Luke 5:4 Jesus says here in effect: “Let down your nets and do the work that belongs to a fisherman and let Me do the worrying. I do not want you to worry but to work.” We always want to change this procedure. We want to do the wo...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY V - MONDAY LESSON: LUKE 12:13-21 Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again, I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Matthew 19:23-24 Paul gives a vivid description of what happens when men give way to unbelief (1 Timothy...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY V - SUNDAY LESSON: LUKE 5:1-11 When they had done this, they enclosed a great shoal of fish, and as their nets were breaking, they beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. Luke 5:6-7 First of all, let us note here that those who believe in Christ will also have enough for their bodil...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY IV - SATURDAY LESSON: MATTHEW 7:1-5 “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned.” Luke 6:37 Jesus is speaking here of uncharitable judging and condemnation, forming a good or bad opinion about something that cannot really be seen from the outside but is a judgement that only God can make. It can happen that you see your neighbor sinning on...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY IV - FRIDAY LESSON: MATTHEW 6:1-4 “Do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return.” Luke 6:35 In these words, Jesus outlines a basic Christian principle which involves our earthly property and its use in relieving the needs of our neighbor and helping him. Our earthly property should always be at the disposal of our neighbor. We should lend to our neighbor and give to him where...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY IV - THURSDAY LESSON: JAMES 2:14-17 Brethren, be the more zealous to confirm your call and election, for if you do this you will never fall; so there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:10-11 Good works should always be a sure sign to me, resembling a seal on a letter, to make me certain that my fai...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY IV - WEDNESDAY LESSON: 2 CORINTHIANS 6:1-2 What have you that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift? I Corinthians 4:7 We must always receive before we can give. Before we practice mercy, we must receive mercy from God. We never lay the first stone. The sheep does not seek out the shepherd, but the shepherd the sheep. See to it,...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY IV - TUESDAY LESSON: HEBREWS 11:17-19 “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:4-5 Someone may wonder how we can reconcile what...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY IV - MONDAY LESSON: PSALM 89:1-4 The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. Exodus 34:6 Where mercy is not practiced, there is no Christian faith. If your heart is established in faith, so that you know and realize how merciful and good God has proved Himself to be as far as you are concerned, without any me...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY IV - SUNDAY LESSON: LUKE 6:36-42 “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” Luke 6:36 Jesus is not speaking here of the kind of mercy that human reason commends and suggests to us. This is a mercy which is selfish and self-seeking, which gives to those who are important and learned, to those who have earned it and merited it, to those whom it loves or who are beautiful, to...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY III - SATURDAY LESSON: LUKE 19:1-10 The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. 1 Timothy 1:15 If you feel your sins biting you, and your heart is wavering and beginning to tremble, take your place on the side where the tax collectors are standing, for they are the people for whom the Gospel is intended. Do this quite...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY III - FRIDAY LESSON: 2 CORINTHIANS 1:3-7 “There is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Luke 15:10 When sinners come to Christ in response to the invitation of the Gospel, He does not reproach them with their sins. He remains silent and covers their sins. He could put us to shame and trample us underfoot, as the Pharisees do, but He does not do that. At th...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY III - THURSDAY LESSON: MATTHEW 18:10-14 He told them this parable: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors,...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY III - WEDNESDAY LESSON: 2 CORINTHIANS 7:5-13 “I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” Luke 15:7 In the example of Christ, we are shown how we are to conduct ourselves towards sinners. Inwardly, in our heart, we must be prepared to serve them; outwardly, with the tongue, we should a...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY III - TUESDAY LESSON: MATTHEW 9:10-13 “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” Luke 15:2 To help assist sinners in finding the true way out of their sins and to conquer sin are the really important and significant works in which we Christians should train ourselves. But not many are concerned about these works; most people by-pass them. The practice has died out and, to...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY III - MONDAY LESSON: ROMANS 5:15-17 The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to him … the Pharisees and the scribes murmured. Luke 15:1-2 In our Gospel, two groups are set before us as an example and for our instruction. First of all, there are the Pharisees and hypocrites. These people were regarded as models of perfection in respect to all kinds of piety and godli...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY III  - SUNDAY LESSON: LUKE 15:1-10 The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” Luke 15:1-2 It is not at all unusual for religious people to assume a very self-righteous attitude over against those whom they regard as “sinners,” to turn up their noses at those who...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY II - SATURDAY LESSON: PSALM 84 “Compel people to come in!” Luke 14:23 We must understand the compulsion referred to here as applying to those who have a despondent and feeble conscience. These people should also be invited to the banquet and compelled to come in. The reference, however, is not to any external compulsion but to an inner, spiritual compulsion. This results when t...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY II - FRIDAY LESSON: JOHN 10:14-16 “Then the householder in anger said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city and bring in the poor and maimed and blind and lame.’” Luke 14:21 The householder’s instruction to his servant to go out quickly “to the streets and lanes of the city” refers to the fact that the Jews proved themselves unworthy of the Gospel...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY II - THURSDAY LESSON: LUKE 14:25-33 He called to him the multitude with his disciples, and said to them, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” Mark 8:34-35 He who gives up something for the Gospel really loses...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY II - WEDNESDAY LESSON: MATTHEW 9:9-13 “But they all alike began to make excuses.” Luke 14:18 These words are a comment on Christ’s words reported in Matthew: “He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and he who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37-38)....