Wrestling with Theology

 Original Broadcast: December 2008 Monthly Theme: Jesus' Humiliation And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. (Matthew 27:59-60) Buried! Jesus was buried by a "secret disciple" in Joseph of Arimathea. Joseph and Nicodemus were members of the Sanhedrin. Members who were apparently not present when Jesus stood...

Original Broadcast: December 2008 Monthly Theme: Jesus' Humiliation   And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed His last. (Mark 15:37) He Died In each of the Gospel accounts, Jesus' death is recorded simply: "And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yieled up His Spirit" (Matthew 27:50). "And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed His last" (Mark 15:37) "And having said this He breathed...

Original Broadcast: December 2008 Monthly Theme: Jesus' Humiliation  And those who passed by derided Him, wagging their heads and saying, "You who would destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the Cross." (Matthew 27:39-40) Crucified! It was a somber highlight for Passover. Pilate had planned a triple crucifixion to take place....

Original Broadcast: December 2008 Monthly Theme: Jesus' Humiliation  Though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9) Suffered The sufferings of Jesus are typically remembered only through the line in the Creed: "suffered under Pontius Pilate." But His sufferings didn't start there. "A scribe came up and said to Him,...

Original Broadcast: December 2008 Monthly Theme: Jesus' Humiliation  And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room at the inn. (Luke 2:7) Born in a Stable Jesus was born in a stable. He was born in a stable and then laid in a feeding trough. Think about this scene. We have our little nativity sets that illustrat...

Original Broadcast: December 2008 Monthly Theme: Jesus' Humiliation And [Gabriel] said to [Mary], "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you." (Luke 1:35) Conceived by the Holy Spirit A vital portion of the Christmas story tends to be set aside and reserved strictly for the Sunday before Christmas or its own holy day. But without Gabriel's proclamation...

God declares that His final plague and judgment upon the land of Egypt is coming. We also take this moment to review the first nine plagues and their judgments against the false gods of Egypt. All of this takes place as we dig deeper into Exodus 11.

Original Broadcast: December 2008 Monthly Theme: Jesus' Humiliation   To [the Israelites] belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen. (Romans 9:5) Our Lord While we focus at Christmas that Jesus is true man, flesh and blood after ourselves yet without sin, we must also remember that Jesus is also true God. He co...

Original Broadcast: December 2008 Monthly Theme: Jesus' Humiliation  [The angel Gabriel said:] "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God." (Luke 1:35) His Only Son The first stop we ahve in the New Testament about the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, comes to us from the lips of an ar...

 Original Broadcast: December 2008 Monthly Theme: Jesus' Humiliation [The angel said:] "She will bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21) Jesus Christ As we begin our look at the Christmas story, we need to take a moment to look at the person at the center. Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ and Messiah, who He is and what He does....

 Original Broadcast: December 2008 Monthly Theme: Jesus' Humiliation "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." (John 10:10) In Color Jamey Johnson has the song "In Color." In it, he tells the story of a young man going through his grandfather's pictures with him. The refrain repeats itself over and over, "A picture's worth a thousand words but you can't see what those shades of...

Original Broadcast: November 2008 Monthly Theme: First Article   The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful Word. (Hebrews 1:3) God Sustains Not only does God provide everything. God sustains everything as well. Much of this is done in His provision. God sends rain to nourish the crops with water. He provides sunshin...

 Original Broadcast: November 2008 Monthly Theme: First Article The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food at the proper time. You open Your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. (Psalm 145:15-16) God Provides This common introduction to the "common table prayer" used by many Christians truly brings a great message for each of us. God provides everything that we n...

 Original Broadcast: November 2008 Monthly Theme: First Article They deliberately forget that long ago by God's Word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. (2 Peter 3:5-6) Evolved We tend to think of ourselves as an evolved society. As Americans, we look at the preceding world powers in his...

Original Broadcast: November 2008 Monthly Theme: First Article  God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment. (2 Peter 2:4) Angels and Demons The greatest creation on the invisible side are the angels and demons. Although God did not create the demons as evil, they are angelic beings who were determined not to serv...

Original Broadcast: November 2008 Monthly Theme: First Article   By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. (Hebrews 11:3) Maker of Heaven and Earth We end the First Article of the Apostles' Creed with the words, "maker of heaven and earth." But what is meant by this statement? It's completed in the Nicene C...

Original Broadcast: November 2008 Monthly Theme: First Article   [Jesus said:] "I am returning to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God." (John 20:17) God and Father In one of His first post-resurrection appearances, Jesus comes to Mary Magdalene as she is weeping in the Garden of Gethsemane. She had just been to the tomb and seen it empty. She was worried that someone had taken J...

This week's episode covers Article XX of the Augsburg Confession, concerning Good Works.

  "For I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments." (Exodus 20:5-6) My Way Frank Sinatra sang, "I've lived a life that's full. I've traveled each and ev'ry highway; and more, much more than this, I di...

  Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. (Colossians 3:5) Death Sentence The death sentence is a subject that still divides Americans and Christians. Should we have such a stiff penalty, even for horrible crimes? Do we have the right to impose such a penalty? I'm not going to answer those questions...

  Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5) Content The writer to the Hebrews tells us to keep our lives free from the love of money. St. Paul tells St. Timothy, "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils" (1 Timothy 6:10). St. Paul further tells the Romans, "I would not have...

  A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will not escape. (Proverbs 19:5) No Escape Michael Peterson sang, "Don't lie and then you can look the whole world in the eye" ("Drink, Swear, Steal & Lie"). That's the problem with liars. They have to keep track of what lie they've told to whom. Just one slip by saying the wrong thing to the wrong person destroys ever...

  The wicked borrows but does not pay back, but the righteous is generous and gives. (Psalm 37:21) Borrowers It seems that everyone hates a borrower. We're not sure whether or not we'll be repaid. We wonder why this person wants to borrow this item. What are they going to do with it? All these questions are there because we know people who don't intend to pay it back. Luther writes in a sermo...

Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 631-682 Part I. The Profession of Faith Section II. The Profession of the Christian Faith Chapter 2. I Beleive in Jesus Christ, the Only Son of God Article 5. "He Descended into Hell, on the Third Day He Rose Again" Article 6. "He Ascended into Heaven and Sits at the Right Hand of the Father" Article 7. "From Thence He Will Come to Judge the Living and...

  Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. (Hebrews 13:4) Honor Marriage The commandment against adultery speaks very highly of marriage. Unfortunately, we live in a world that speaks so dispicably about marriage. Think about what's portrayed on television for our children every day. Marriage is see...