Luther for the Busy Man

LENT - WEEK 2 - FRIDAY LESSON: PSALM 46 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without waver, for he who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23 What we are told about the Canaanite woman and her faith (Matthew 15:21-28) has been written for our comfort and instruction, that we may learn how deeply God at times hides His grace from us. We should not form our estimate of Him according to our feeli...

LENT - WEEK 2 - THURSDAY LESSON: ROMANS 9:14-24 She came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” Matthew 15:25 The Canaanite woman came to Jesus in a house, as Mark tells us, “and fell down at his feet,” Mark 7:25, and made her plea; “Lord, help me!” It was now that she received the mortal blow. Before all present, she was told in so many words that she was a dog, not worthy to partake of t...

LENT - WEEK 2 - WEDNESDAY LESSON: LUKE 11:5-13 We share in Christ, if only we hold our first confidence firm to the end. Hebrews 3:14 When we hear how Christ answered the Canaanite woman in the Gospel (Matthew 15:21-26), we are in a way reminded of quite a number of remarkable statements that He made to His disciples on various occasions. He said to them, “If two of you agree on earth about anythi...

LENT - WEEK 2 - TUESDAY LESSON: COLOSSIANS 1:21-23 His disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Matthew 15:23,24 When the cries and faith of the Canaanite woman prove fruitless, the disciples of Christ lodge an appeal on her behalf in the belief that they will certainly be heard. But...

LENT - WEEK 2 - MONDAY LESSON: 1 PETER 1:16-21 Behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and cried, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely possessed by a demon.” But he did not answer her a word. Matthew 15:22,23 Note how Christ hammers and drives faith into His believers so that it becomes strong and firm! First, when the Canaanite woman follows the good report...

LENT - WEEK 2 - SUNDAY LESSON: MATTHEW 15:21-28 Immediately a woman, whose little daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit, heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. Mark 7:25 In this Canaanite woman, we see that true faith is confidence of the heart in the grace and goodness of God, revealed and experienced through God’s Word. St. Mark tells us that she had “heard” of Jesus: a report ab...

LENT - WEEK 1 - SATURDAY LESSON: PSALM 34:1-10 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and ministered to him. Matthew 4:11 Finally, the angels came to Him and ministered to Him. This must have taken place in a bodily manner. They appeared as bodily ministrants and brought Him food and drink and ministered to His needs at the table and in all other ways. They rendered external services to...

LENT - WEEK 1 - FRIDAY LESSON: JAMES 4:5-10 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them; and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Matthew 4:8,9 The third temptation is concerned with temporal honor and power. Those who fall away from the faith for the sake of honor and power are...

LENT - WEEK 1 - THURSDAY LESSON: EPHESIANS 6:10-17 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’” Matthew 4:7 The devil’s second temptation is quite different from the first one but quite similar to it in its absurdity. Here the devil teaches us to tempt God, just as he urged Christ to throw Himself from a pinnacle of the temple. This was quite unnecessary in an...

LENT - WEEK 1 - WEDNESDAY LESSON: MATTHEW 26:36-41 If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread. Matthew 4:3 After approaching Christ, the devil assails Him by confronting Him with His bodily welfare and casting doubt on God’s goodness, saying, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” It is as though he meant to say: “Rely on God and...

LENT - WEEK 1 - TUESDAY LESSON: LUKE 12:22-31 Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and being made perfect he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him. Hebrews 5:8,9 The account of Christ’s temptation has been written both for our learning and admonition. First, we should learn here how Christ, by His fasting, hunger, temptation, and victory, serve...

LENT - WEEK 1 - MONDAY LESSON: ROMANS 8:12-17 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. Matthew 4:1 There is a reason why the evangelist, with considerable care, states right at the beginning of this Gospel that Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, that He fasted there, and was tempted. The reason for this is that no one should ever presume to...

LENT - WEEK 1 - SUNDAY LESSON: MATTHEW 4:1-11 We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10 It is customary to read the Gospel of Christ’s temptation by the devil at the beginning of the season of Lent to set Christ’s example before Christians and encourage them to fast as Christ fasted. This is utter tomf...

LENT - SATURDAY LESSON: MATTHEW 26:57-58 If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17 We have no hesitation at all in declaring that anyone who contemplates God’s sufferings for a day, an hour, a quarter of an hour, does better than fasting for a whole year, praying a psalm every day, and hearing a hundred masses. For such cont...

LENT - FRIDAY LESSON: MATTHEW 26:47-56 Rejoice in so far as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 1 Peter 4:13 Anyone who remains so completely unmoved and hard-boiled that the sufferings of Christ do not horrify him and bring him to his senses has cause to be afraid. For it cannot be otherwise. You must become conformed to the image and s...

LENT - THURSDAY LESSON: MATTHEW 26:36-46 He was wounded for our transgressions; he was bruised for our iniquities. Isaiah 53:5 Christ’s passion should help us to a knowledge of self, to be horrified at ourselves, and to bring us to contrition. If this is not the result of Christ’s passion as far as we are concerned, it has not yet achieved its purpose in us. In His passion, Christ placed Himself o...

LENT - ASH WEDNESDAY LESSON: PSALM 32:1-7 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 David says in the psalm, “I acknowledged my sin to thee, and I did not hide my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord;’ then thou didst forgive the guilt of my sin” (Psalm 32:5). No one can...

THE WEEK OF QUINQUAGESIMA - TUESDAY LESSON: MATTHEW 26:26-35 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Matthew 16:24 This life is nothing else but a life of faith, love, and the holy cross. But these three never reach a stage of perfection in us as long as we live here on earth, and no one ever reached perfection in t...

THE WEEK OF QUINQUAGESIMA - MONDAY LESSON: MATTHEW 26:14-25 Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift! 2 Corinthians 9:15 If we are considering the passion of Christ in the correct way, its immediate effect on us should be a feeling of deep shock and an uneasy conscience. We should be deeply shocked when we see the harsh wrath of God and His unrelenting seriousness in dealing with sin and sinner...

THE WEEK OF QUINQUAGESIMA - SUNDAY LESSON: MATTHEW 26:1-13 The next day, he saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29 In many people, the passion of Christ arouses little more than sympathy. They lament and bemoan the fact that He suffered innocently. A great multitude of women followed Jesus near the end of His public ministry...

THE WEEK OF SEXAGESIMA - SATURDAY LESSON: EPHESIANS 3:7-13 To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God. Luke 8:10 What does He mean when He says: “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God”? What is a “secret” here? If one cannot know it, why does one preach it? “Secret” means a hidden, concealed matter which one does not know, and “the secrets of th...

THE WEEK OF SEXAGESIMA - FRIDAY LESSON: PSALM 31:15-24 O send out thy light and thy truth; let them lead me, let them bring me to thy holy hill and to thy dwelling! Psalm 43:3 After hearing the Word, large numbers fall away from it and bring no fruit to perfection. We are told this for our learning so that we should not be led into error. It is certainly unpleasant to preach to those who treat the...

THE WEEK OF SEXAGESIMA - THURSDAY LESSON: MATTHEW 10:34-39 As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart and bring forth fruit with patience. Luke 8:15 The fourth group are those who grasp the Word and hold on to it with a good heart and bring forth fruit with patience, that is, those who hear the Word and steadfastly hold on to it so...

THE WEEK OF EPIPHANY V - WEDNESDAY LESSON: EPHESIANS 4:25-32 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not submit again to a to a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1 Private or auricular confession has become established in the church without any direct command in the Word of God. In enforcing this upon all members of the Church, the leaders of the Church have at times imposed he...

EPIPHANY III - SATURDAY LESSON: 1 THESSALONIANS 2:13-16 When Jesus heard him, he marveled, and said to those who followed him, Truly, I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” Matthew 8:10 The words of Jesus to the centurion have caused no end of trouble to the commentators. They have raised the question whether Jesus really told the truth in these words. On the basis of these wor...