Luther for the Busy Man

HOLY WEEK - TUESDAY LESSON: HEBREWS 10:1-7 [Christ said,] “‘Lo, I have come to do thy will, O God,’ as it is written of me in the roll of the scroll.” Hebrews 10:7 Christ’s sufferings are understood correctly when we do not simply regard the sufferings as such but recognize and grasp His heart and will to suffer. For if one regards His sufferings in isolation without recognizing His heart and will...

HOLY WEEK - MONDAY LESSON: MATTHEW 16:21-23 Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. 1 Peter 2:21 Jesus spoke the words of Matthew 16:21-23 before He entered upon His suffering, as He was on His way to Jerusalem. His immediate purpose was to celebrate Easter at Jerusalem. In all probability, the disciples had not the slightest idea of His impending...

SIXTH SUNDAY IN LENT – PALMARUM PALM SUNDAY LESSON: MATTHEW 13:45-46 “If anyone keeps my word.” John 8:51 It is quite clear from the context in which these words stand what Jesus means here by “keeping” His Word. He does not mean “keeping” in the sense that “keep” has when one speaks about “keeping” the Law. One “keeps” the Law by means of works. When Christ speaks here of “keeping” His Word, He m...

LENT - WEEK 5 - SATURDAY LESSON: HEBREWS 1:1-13 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” John 8:58 Jesus gives the basis and reason why it is just His Word and not that of anyone else which makes men live. It is simply this: that He “was” even before Abraham. “Before Abraham was, I am.” Jesus is the one true God. If the person who offered Himself for us were not...

LENT - WEEK 5 - FRIDAY LESSON: GALATIANS 3:15-18 “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he was to see my day; he saw it and was glad.” John 8:56 Christ here declares in opposition to the Jews that Abraham and the prophets still live and never died, but that in the midst of death they have life. But they lie and sleep in death. “Your father Abraham,” He says, “rejoiced that he was to see my day; he saw...

LENT - WEEK 5 - THURSDAY LESSON: 1 CORINTHIANS 15:51-56 I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord. Psalm 118:17 How does it come to pass that one does not see death or taste it when Abraham and all the prophets died, who certainly had the Word of God, as the Jews also maintained? Here we must pay close attention to what Christ actually says and note that He makes a disti...

LENT - WEEK 5 - WEDNESDAY LESSON: JOHN 17:1-5 “Truly, truly I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” John 8:51 Jesus really spoils things for His enemies when He not only offers a good and stout defense of His doctrine but ascribes such might to it that it holds full sway over the devil, death, and sin, imparting eternal life and preserving men therein. See here how divine...

LENT - WEEK 5 - TUESDAY LESSON: ROMANS 12:14-21 “I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he will be the judge.” John 8:50 Why does Jesus not say in John 8:49, “I honor my Father and you dishonor Him”? He says, “You dishonor me.” In a veiled manner, He indicates that His Father’s honor and His own honor are identical, one and the same thing, just as He is one God together with Hi...

LENT - WEEK 5 - MONDAY LESSON: JOHN 8:45 “Because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.” John 8:45 It is true that no pastor’s life is ever so good that it is without sin before God. And so, it is enough if he is blameless in the eyes of his people. But his doctrine must be so good and pure that it stands up not only before men but also before God. A godly preacher may well find himself in a po...

LENT - WEEK 5 - SUNDAY LESSON: JOHN 8:46-59 “Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me?” John 8:46 This Gospel teaches us how hardened sinners become even more furious when one instructs them and encourages them in a friendly manner. Christ here asks them in a really friendly manner to supply a reason why they do not believe in Him when they are in no position...

LENT - WEEK 4 - SATURDAY LESSON: JOHN 7:14-24 “If I cast out demons by Be-elzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out?” Luke 11:19 Jesus certainly confronts His enemies here with a telling and crushing question when He asks them, “If I cast out demons by Be-elzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out?” He means to ask them, “Is it not rabid hatred to condemn in me what you praise in your own child...

LENT - WEEK 4 - FRIDAY LESSON: ROMANS 6:1-11 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes Him who sent me, has eternal life; he does not come into judgement, but has passed from death to life.” John 5:25 The meaning of Jesus is that he who clings to the Word will not feel or see death, even in the midst of death, as He also declares later on: “He who believes in me, though he die...

LENT - WEEK 4 - THURSDAY LESSON: PSALM 36 Thy steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, Thy faithfulness to the clouds. Psalm 36:5 God’s power and might is in the very bread we eat. He is present in this bread and nourishes us through it and under it, but in an invisible manner. We think that it is the bread that does it all! But where no bread is available, He nourishes men without bread by...

LENT - WEEK 4 - WEDNESDAY LESSON: PSALM 121 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Psalm 121:2 There are situations in life when God really strips us bare and we suffer want, even in regard to such matters as clothing, housing, and the like. But before very long, clothing has to be found, otherwise the very leaves would have to be plucked from the trees and become coats and cloaks...

LENT - WEEK 4 - TUESDAY LESSON: MATTHEW 7:7-12 Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the fragments left over, that nothing may be lost.” John 6:11,12 In taking the five loaves and blessing them, Jesus gives us to understan...

LENT - WEEK 4 - MONDAY LESSON: JOHN 15:12-17 “As the Father has loved me, so have I love you; abide in my love.” John 15:9 In His feeding of the five thousand, our Lord gives us a splendid example of His manifold love for men. In the first place, His miracle in providing so much food is not performed only for the benefit of His godly followers who followed Him for the sake of His works and words....

LENT - WEEK 4 - SUNDAY LESSON: JOHN 6:1-15 “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.” Matthew 6:33 In the Gospel of the feeding of the five thousand, Christ once again teaches us the need for faith without anxious worry about food and clothing. Then He stirs us up with a miracle in which He actually demonstrates in deed what He says in words in the...

LENT - WEEK 3 - SATURDAY LESSON: LUKE 9:46-50 “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.” Luke 11:23 The Gospels are replete with many fine sayings which set forth very important teachings. This is also the case in Christ’s words at the end of the Gospel concerning the healing of the dumb demoniac: “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not ga...

LENT - WEEK 3 - FRIDAY LESSON: ROMANS 16:17-20 “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace; but when one stronger than he assails him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil.” Luke 11:21,22 In this illustration taken from everyday life, Jesus demonstrates that no one but God alone can really overcome the devil. No one...

LENT - WEEK 3 - THURSDAY LESSON: EPHESIANS 6:12-17 “If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? [...] If it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” Luke 11:18,20 From Christ’s words in this Gospel, it follows that where God’s finger does not drive out the devil, the devil’s kingdom still stands, and where the devil’s kin...

LENT - WEEK 3 - WEDNESDAY LESSON: 1 CORINTHIANS 2:1-5 “Therefore, they [your sons] shall be your judges. But, if it is by the finger of God I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” Luke 11:19,20 When Jesus tells the Jews, who question His authority to cast out demons and ascribe it to the devil, that their sons will be their judges, He means to say that He is appealing to the...

LENT - WEEK 3 - TUESDAY LESSON: TITUS 3:8-11 Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. Mark 1:25,26 No one should imagine that the evil spirits at times present an appearance of disunity and that one yields to the other to deceive men. For it is quite evident that they offer resistance, demur,...

LENT - WEEK 3 - MONDAY LESSON: COLOSSIANS 4:2-6 But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Be-elzebul, the prince of demons” [...] But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and house falls upon house. And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Be-elzebul.” Luke 11:15,17...

LENT - WEEK 3- SUNDAY LESSON: LUKE 11:14-28 He was casting out a demon that was dumb; when the demon had gone out, the dumb man spoke. Luke 11:14 This is a beautiful Gospel in which we learn a great deal about many different things, and in it there is portrayed almost all that Christ, His kingdom, and Gospel are. We learn what the Gospel achieves and how it makes its way in the world. First of all...

LENT - WEEK 2 - SATURDAY LESSON: PSALM 33:13-22 Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you. Psalm 55:22 That God nourishes the whole world by means of bread, and not only through the Word without bread, has its special reason. God is concealing His work under this procedure in order to exercise our faith. In the case of the children of Israel also, He issued orders for them to arm thems...