Luther for the Busy Man

THE WEEK OF TRINITY XVIII - WEDNESDAY LESSON: GALATIANS 2:15‒16 It is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. Romans 2:13 How many are there who really understand the commandment, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind”? Few, indeed, and there are fewer still who actually...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY XVIII - TUESDAY  LESSON: PSALM 40:1-8 “Blessed are those who keep his (the Lord's) testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart.” Psalm 119:2  Man's unbelief has invented and set up countless substitutes for the two main commandments of the Law, resulting in forms of ungodliness which Scripture describes as "grieving" God and the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30; Isaiah 63:10)....

THE WEEK OF TRINITY XVIII - MONDAY LESSON: 1 SAMUEL 16:1-7 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.” Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus means to say here: He who has kept these tw...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY XVIII - SUNDAY LESSON: MATTHEW 22:34-46 “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.” Psalm 119:18 Today's Gospel supplies answers to two questions. The first is the one which the lawyer puts to Jesus on behalf of the Pharisees, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" The second is the question which the Lord Himself puts to the Pharisees and s...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY XVII - SATURDAY LESSON: MATTHEW 20:20‒28 “The tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 18:13‒14 St. Augu...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY XVII - FRIDAY LESSON: PSALM 138:1‒6 “When you are invited by anyone to a marriage feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest a more eminent man than you be invited by him; and he who invited you both will come and say to you, “Give place to this man,” and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY XVII - THURSDAY LESSON: 1 PETER 4:7‒10 “Which of you, having an ass or an ox that has fallen into a well, will not immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?” Luke 14:5 He means to say here, “You fools! Are you not quite mad and foolish? You do this for an ox or an ass, worth perhaps a few florins; much more should you be prepared to do it for your neighbor when he has need of...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY XVII - WEDNESDAY LESSON: 1 CORINTHIANS 13:1‒13 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 1 Corinthians 13:7 We should slant all our laws in such a way that they always bring out the necessity of love. When they are of service and useful to our neighbor, we must keep them; when they are harmful, we are to let them go. Take a rather crude e...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY XVII - TUESDAY LESSON: MATTHEW 15:1‒9 Jesus spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” Luke 14:3 The lawyers and Pharisees, of course, did not believe that it was lawful to heal or to do anything else on the Sabbath day. In this Gospel (Luke 14:1‒11), Jesus shows them that all laws, divine or human, bind us only as far as love per...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY XVII - MONDAY LESSON: PSALM 34:1‒10 “Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High; and call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.” Psalm 50:14‒15 Before we can come to faith, the Gospel must be proclaimed to us. To come to faith, we must know that God is so friendly and merciful to us that He sent us His Son...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY XVII - SUNDAY LESSON: LUKE 14:1‒11 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of Mine that bears no fruit, He takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes that it may bear more fruit. You are already made clean by the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY XVI - SATURDAY LESSON: ROMANS 8:28-30 For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In overflowing wrath, for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you, says the Lord, your Redeemer. Isaiah 54:7-8 The poor widow in this week’s Gospel (Luke 7:11-17) is so closely beset by very great sorrow and fear t...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY XVI - FRIDAY LESSON: 2 TIMOTHY 1:8-10 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory throu...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY XVI - THURSDAY LESSON: PSALM 119:121-128 “I will not leave you desolate; I will come to you.” John 14:18 The common lesson taught in all the Gospels is that we should learn from them what kind of God we have. In this week’s Gospel (Luke 7:11-17), the point that is made quite clear is that God forsakes no one. And so, He lets this widow see once again what kind of God she has. W...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY XVI - WEDNESDAY LESSON: 2 CORINTHIANS 9:10-15 O how abundant is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for those who fear thee, and wrought for those who take refuge in thee, in the sight of the sons of men! Psalm 31:19 In what happened to the widow at Nain, God lets us see what kind of God He is, how He regards us, and how we should regard Him. This woman was the subject of two...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY XVI - TUESDAY LESSON: PSALM 86:8-15 If many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of that one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for many. Romans 5:15 At times God suffers a man to experience fear and distress, pain and sorrow. He suddenly finds himself in a world which seems to have no God. A man loses his sight; he becomes la...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY XVI - MONDAY LESSON: PSALM 100 “Your Father who is in heaven … makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” Matthew 5:45 If I only duly considered what God has done for me in giving me my eyes, truly, a very great treasure, it would not be very surprising if I died of shame for my thanklessness in never having thanked God for thi...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY XVI - SUNDAY LESSON: LUKE 7:11-17 It depends not upon man’s will or exertion, but upon God’s mercy. Romans 9:16 In this Gospel the evangelist once again sets before us a divine miracle. In it he wants to encourage us to direct our hearts to God if we find ourselves in a situation like the one in which the widow found herself. This account was not written for the sake of this wi...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY XV - SATURDAY LESSON: JAMES 5:1-6 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasure on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal.” Matthew 6:19-20 There are sins that bring at least some kind of joy; we get something out of them, li...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY XV - FRIDAY LESSON: LUKE 12:13-21 “A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Luke 12:15 How does it come about that the Gospel and St. Paul single out greed and call it idolatry? They do not do this in the case of other gross sins like impurity, harlotry, evil lusts and thoughts, unchastity, and many other vices opposed to God. It is a very great disgr...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY XV - THURSDAY LESSON: PSALM 49:16-20 “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” Matthew 13:44 The world cannot hide its unbelief in its gross public sins. I can plainly see that it has more love for a florin than it has for Christ and all His apostles. Eve...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY XV -  WEDNESDAY LESSON: COLOSSIANS 3:5-11 Be sure of this, that no immoral or impure man, or one who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Ephesians 5:5 Where are these people who love God and have no hankering at all after money and property? Take a close look at the whole world, including the Christians, to see whether th...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY XV - TUESDAY LESSON: PSALM 37:1-11 “Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.” Matthew 6:24 You will find very few people who do not sin against this Gospel (Matthew 6:24-34). The Lord pronounces a very strict judgement here, and it is alarming to hear Him make this judgement which might very well apply to us. No one...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY XV - MONDAY LESSON: MATTHEW 15:1-9 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” Matthew 6:24 The man who wants to serve two masters will always find himself in a relationship to one of them which is not service in any sense at all. Matters must always...

THE WEEK OF TRINITY XV - SUNDAY LESSON: MATTHEW 6:24-34 Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. James 1:22 In this Gospel we see how God separates the Christians from the heathen. The Lord does not offer this doctrine to the heathen because they do not accept it; this doctrine is given to Christians. But He does not regard those as His Christians who hear the Word only to...