The nations come to Israel by coming to Christ

Posted on January 7, 2026 by Rev. Paul Rydecki

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Sermon for the Epiphany of Our Lord

Isaiah 60:1-6 + Matthew 2:1-12

Have any of you ever gone to Israel? You have. You all have. I know you have. And today’s festival of Epiphany explains how.

On Sunday, we looked at three Old Testament prophecies that were fulfilled in Jesus’ infancy. The visit of the wise men, which only Matthew recounts in his Gospel, is yet another fulfillment of prophecy. Now, some will point to the prophecy pronounced by the false prophet Balaam as the children of Israel were journeying toward the land of Canaan, to conquer it. And they may be right. The Holy Spirit overcame that false prophet and spoke through him: I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; a Star shall come out of Jacob; a Scepter shall rise out of Israel, and batter the brow of Moab, and destroy all the sons of tumult. And Edom shall be a possession; Seir also, his enemies, shall be a possession, while Israel does valiantly. Out of Jacob One shall have dominion, and destroy the remains of the city. That’s the only prophecy in the Old Testament that mentions a special star rising out of Israel, like the one the wise men followed.

But Isaiah’s prophecy from chapter 60 that you heard this evening is an even clearer prophecy of the visit of the wise men. And not only of that event, but of a much, much greater fulfillment that is still taking place. In the visit of the wise men, we see the Gentiles, the nations, coming literally and physically to Israel. But they only came to Israel because that’s where Christ was at the time. And still today, the nations come to Israel by coming to Christ, wherever He is at this time.

Matthew tells us that, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, behold, there came wise men from the East to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East and have come to worship him.” Who were these wise men or “Magi”? Legend says they were three kings from the region of Babylonia. They’re even given names: Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar. But no one really knows. And how did they know that a star would herald the birth of the King of the Jews? Again, no one knows for sure. What we do know for sure about them is what matters: They were Gentiles, non-Jews, who were drawn by God to the land of Israel, because they were convinced, not only that the King of the Jews had been born, but that this particular King of the Jews was also born for them, for those who are not Jews, and that He deserved their worship, their honor, and their very precious gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.

How did Israel respond to the wise men’s news about the birth of their King? When King Herod heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. For the most part, Jerusalem and its inhabitants were not thrilled at the news. They were troubled. But we know that some in Jerusalem were thrilled. We heard a not long ago about Simeon and Anna who were there in the temple to welcome their King with open arms. In fact, Simeon was the first to announce what the birth of the Messiah would mean for Israel and for the Gentiles. You know the Nunc Dimittis, where Simeon said that Jesus is a Light for enlightening the Gentiles and for glory to God’s people. Israel has no glory apart from the light of Christ, and Gentiles have no light, only darkness without the light of Christ. But when the Gentiles come to Him, they have their darkness replaced with light.

That brings us to Isaiah’s prophecy. What did he say to the people of Israel? Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For, behold, darkness covers the earth, and deep darkness the peoples. But the LORD will rise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. Israel spent hundreds of years, from the time of Solomon’s son Rehoboam through the Babylonian captivity, in constant rebellion against God, with only brief moments of humility and faith. Nothing was going to change that. They were a stubborn and rebellious people. But, honestly, not really worse than the rest of the nations. Mankind’s corruption is complete. No nation on earth could ever truly thrive in justice and righteousness. Look at the days before Noah’s flood. Look at the days following Noah’s flood. Look at the history of the whole world. Injustice, violence, war, rebellion against God have always been the norm for sinful mankind, and always will be. The only difference for the nation of Israel was that they were the only nation that had a promise from God that something wonderful would come to them, and from them. God would send a light to Israel. The LORD Himself would rise upon Israel, like the sun. His glory would appear over them (perhaps a reference to the “star” the wise men saw). In other words, the Christ, the Son of God, would be born in Israel. He would be for their glory, as Simeon said; His coming would bring great, world-wide renown to Israel. And so they should arise and shine with joy at His coming, because He was the true Light who would bring glory to that nation.

And He would bring them glory because the light of Christ that shone from Israel, starting from the birth of the King, would reach the Gentiles, would reach the ends of the earth, and would draw the Gentiles to Israel, to walk in the light that was coming from Israel. But the light wasn’t coming from Israel as a nation, or as a people, or as piece of land. It was coming from the baby in Bethlehem.

That’s where the wise men went, leaving Jerusalem behind. The light of God shining in the pages of Holy Scripture had shown them the way to Bethlehem, where the Christ was to be born, and then the light of the special star returned to show them exactly where He was. And when they had come into the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they fell down and worshiped him. And opening their treasures, they presented to him gifts: gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. Why worship an infant? Why travel all that way, and present such precious gifts? Because the King of the Jews would be the Savior of the whole world. By His suffering and death, he would provide atonement for the sins of all men, and through Him men would again have access to the holy God, to their Creator, to their King.

All this was foretold by the prophet Isaiah. And Gentiles will walk in your light, and kings in the brightness that rises upon you. Lift up your eyes all around and see! They all gather together; they come to you. Your sons will come from afar, and your daughters will be nursed at your side. Then you will see and be radiant, and your heart will marvel and swell, for the abundance of the sea will be turned over to you, the might of the Gentiles will come to you. The multitude of camels will cover you, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah. All those from Sheba will come; they will bring gold and incense, and they will declare the praises of the LORD.

This was a recurring theme and a big prophecy in the Old Testament, that the Gentiles would come to Israel—so big, in fact, that it’s one of the reasons the nation of Israel has historically rejected Jesus as the Christ, because they didn’t see Him literally drawing all nations to the physical nation of Israel. “At best He drew a few wise men from the East. So what? Big deal!” Yes, the wise men’s journey to the land of Israel was the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. But it was only the beginning of the fulfillment. The whole Old Testament opens up for you when you realize that the coming of the Gentiles to Israel was always about coming to the Christ who would come to Israel. All the prophets who spoke of this were talking not about the expansion of cultural Israel or of the Jewish nation according to the flesh, but the widening of Israel to include all nations, and to include them in one way and in one way only, by shining the light of Jesus the Christ into the world from that moment, 2,000 years ago, when the Christ was born in Israel.

But He’s no longer shining from Israel, and you no longer need to go to Israel to find Him. Now the light of Christ shines wherever His Gospel is preached in the world. And wherever people hear it, and believe, and are baptized in the name of Christ, there they are coming to Israel, into the expanded version of Israel that God had planned from the beginning, which has nothing to do any longer with a piece of land, because the true Israel is found wherever He is found who was born on that piece of land, in Bethlehem: Jesus the Christ, the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe. Israel is present among us, because Christ is present here among us, where two or three are gathered together in His name. As He promised, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

And so, you see, whether or not you have ever gone to Israel, you believers in the King of the Jews have most certainly gone to Israel. You have visited Jerusalem, and Bethlehem, together with the wise men. You have seen the glory of the Lord rising upon that nation. You’ve seen it through the words of Holy Scripture and through faith in the words you have heard. You have come to Israel by coming to Christ, and, together with all believers from every nation, you have been incorporated into the expanded Israel that is called the Holy Christian Church. Epiphany marks the beginning of that expansion, but hardly the end of it. Until the end of time, the nations will be coming to Israel by coming to Christ, by coming into the Christian Church, where you, too, have fallen down before the King of the Jews, to worship Him, to praise Him, and to present to Him your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. A blessed Epiphany to all! Amen.

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Prophecies fulfilled amid the suffering

Posted on January 4, 2026 by Rev. Paul Rydecki

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Sermon for Christmas 2

1 Peter 4:12-19 + Matthew 2:13-23

The delightful story of Christmas, followed by the awe-inspiring visit of the wise men, continues with a story of terror, fear, and uncertainty. On Wednesday we’ll backtrack to the story of the wise men’s visit to worship the newborn King. But today’s Gospel takes us to the terrifying events that followed their visit. In these events, we see the hand of God working out His plan of salvation, even behind the terrible slaughter of the little children of Bethlehem and the harrowing flight of the holy family to Egypt, and Matthew is careful to point out for us three fulfillments of prophecy in this story. Even amid the suffering endured by Jesus’ family and by the families of Bethlehem, prophecies were being fulfilled—three prophecies that should point all people to Jesus as the Christ, and as the Savior, not from earthly woes, but from the deadly consequences of sin.

If you’ve read Matthew’s Gospel, you’ve surely noticed how often he quotes from the Old Testament—about as often as the other three Gospel writers combined, always demonstrating to the Jewish audience to whom he’s primarily writing that Jesus in the promised Christ, the One to whom all the Scriptures pointed, and the true King of the Jews. Before our Gospel begins, he’s already mentioned two major Old Testament prophecies: about the virgin-birth of the Christ, and about His birthplace being the little town of Bethlehem. The next one has to do with Egypt. When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son, said the Lord through the prophet Hosea. But how does that prophecy point to Jesus? In fact, how is it a prophecy at all?

The prophet Hosea was writing about God’s history of dealing with Israel. This verse is talking about the nation of Israel in its infancy, when God adopted the nation as His son, so to speak, and then “called them out of Egypt” by rescuing them from slavery there, to bring them safely into the land of Canaan. A person could easily read that verse from Hosea and conclude that he was only talking about the nation of Israel and what happened to them in the past. But the Holy Spirit, speaking through Matthew, teaches us to view it not only as a word of history but as a word of prophecy, where Israel serves as a type or a pattern of the coming Christ. Just as God spoke to His “adopted son” Israel, calling them out of Egypt, so God speaks to His only-begotten Son Jesus as the representative of Israel and calls Him out of Egypt, back to the promised land, following the pattern of Old Testament Israel. Except that, while Israel proved to be an unfaithful son, always complaining against God his Father, always rebelling, always turning away to other gods, Jesus would prove to be the perfect Son, never complaining, never rebelling, never turning away from His beloved Father.

Now, how Jesus got down to Egypt in the first place is the terrible part of this story. When the wise men left the house where Joseph, Mary, and Jesus were, an angel warned the wise men not to tell Herod where the Child was. When they didn’t return to him, Herod issued the terrible order to kill all the baby boys of Bethlehem who were two years old and under, the act of a truly depraved, paranoid tyrant. But that, too, was the fulfillment of a prophecy from the book of Jeremiah: In Ramah a sound was heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children. And she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.

Many surely read those words as referring to the desolation that the Babylonians would bring on the land of Judea, to Ramah, that is, Bethlehem, where Jacob’s wife Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin some 2,000 years before Jesus was born, because the Babylonians would take all the Jews captive to Babylonia, including the inhabitants of Bethlehem, leaving the land empty of “Rachel’s children.” But Matthew, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, indicates that God, through Jeremiah, was also referring to another future event, to the destruction of the children of Bethlehem that King Herod would carry out in his jealous rage.

Matthew doesn’t focus on the horror of that event. He assumes the reader is able to imagine it, as the soldiers went from home to home putting the little children to death. Understand, it wasn’t God who instigated King Herod to carry out this wicked thing. In His foreknowledge He certainly knew about it ahead of time. But it was the devil who was responsible for it, and Herod’s own wickedness. The story highlights for us just how much the devil hates human beings, just how much he loves violence, and just how determined he was to wipe out the newborn Son of God, who was born to destroy the works of the devil.

Not that Herod thought of it as working with the devil; he had his own motives for wanting to wipe out the One whom the wise men had called the “King of the Jews.” Herod thought this Child had been born as a threat to his earthly kingship, and the kingship of his family. But as Jesus later confessed, “My kingdom is not of this world.” It wasn’t God’s purpose to get rid of Herod, nor was it God’s purpose for His people to get rid of Herod, or to depose any of the kings or topple any of the governments of this earth, or to prevent all the wickedness and violence that men do, or the suffering that men suffer—not until He comes again in glory, when He will make all things right. No, God had sent His Son into the world to redeem the world from sin, that sinners might be reconciled with God, forgiven their sins, and saved from spending eternity in hell with the devil and his demons. But Herod didn’t know that, and didn’t care. He had no interest in the things of God, only in protecting his earthly throne, which meant wiping out anyone whom he saw as a threat.

So those little children of Bethlehem were wiped out from this earthly life. And if a good, long, cozy, comfortable life here on earth were the goal of our existence, then those children really missed out. But if making it safely through this life into the next life with God is the goal, then those children reached their goal more quickly than their parents did. Because those Israelite children were included by God among His covenant people, even as baptized babies today are included by God among His covenant people, whom He will not abandon; they’ve already died with Christ through Baptism, and their life, like the life of all believers, is hidden with God in Christ.

Meanwhile, God shielded His Son from Herod’s plot, and from the devil, because it wasn’t yet time for Jesus to suffer and die—though that day would surely come. For the moment, God sent an angel to warn Joseph to flee quickly to Egypt, where God watched over Jesus, and Mary, and Joseph until Herod was dead. And, incidentally, God saw to it that Herod died a wretched death, by all historical accounts. Herod had his day, and then his time was up. And then it was time for yet another prophecy to be fulfilled.

Joseph was instructed by the angel to return not to Bethlehem, or to Jerusalem, but to Nazareth, which, as Luke tells us, is where he and Mary were originally from. If they thought for a time that God wanted them to raise Jesus closer to Jerusalem, where the King of the Jews would naturally live, they learned that God had a different plan. They were to take Jesus to Nazareth and raise Him there. We can imagine several reasons for that, but Matthew reveals an important one: that what was spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, “He will be called a Nazarene.”

Notice here, Matthew doesn’t cite a certain prophet, but “the prophets.” There are a few explanations out there for this, but I think the most likely is that it’s a reference to the book of Judges, and we aren’t given the name of the prophet who wrote that book. There, the angel of the Lord foretold the birth of a special child whose name would be Samson. “He will be a Nazirite to God from the womb until the day of his death,” the angel said to Samson’s mother—Nazirite, from a Hebrew word that means, “consecrated” and that sounds like Nazarene. And it’s true, Samson was a type or pattern, in some ways, of the coming Christ, just as Israel was. Like Samson, Jesus would be consecrated to the Lord from the womb until the day of His death, His whole life dedicated to fulfilling God’s plan of salvation, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of a cross. As Samson was a judge of Israel, so Jesus will be the Judge of all. As the Spirit of God came upon Samson to give him incredible physical strength, so the Spirit would come upon Jesus to perform mighty miracles. As Samson singlehandedly delivered the Israelites from the Philistines, who were their enemies at that time, so Jesus would singlehandedly deliver us from the devil, who is the ancient enemy of all mankind.

Prophecy after prophecy was fulfilled in the life of Jesus, starting from His infancy, even amid the suffering caused by those who hated Him. Nothing the devil could do, nothing anyone could do, could alter the course of God’s plan for Jesus. In fact, all their attempts to get rid of Him only furthered God’s plans. The same is true for all of His children. The devil targets you in ways you can’t even see, and the world will find a way to make you suffer for leading a righteous life, and for confessing the name of Christ without fear and without compromise. Don’t worry about it. Don’t shrink back from it. Because nothing the devil can do, nothing anyone can do, can alter the course of God’s good plan for you. If that plan involves deliverance here on earth, God be praised. If it involves suffering here, or even death, so be it. The Christian life is not about seeking earthly comfort or earthly justice. It’s about clinging in faith to the Lord Jesus, and leading a life here that brings glory to Him, so that we can safely escape this world and enter with Him into the glory of His heavenly kingdom. Therefore, Peter writes in the Epistle, let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator. Because He is faithful. And just as all His prophecies about Jesus were fulfilled, so will be fulfilled all His prophecies about eternal joy and deliverance for His people after the suffering of this life is through. Amen.

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The Offspring of Abraham is the Savior from sin

Posted on December 31, 2025 by Rev. Paul Rydecki

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Sermon for the Eve of Christ’s Naming & Circumcision

Galatians 3:23-29 + Luke 2:21

Let’s take a moment, on this last day of 2025, to repeat what we did on the first day of 2025: to praise the Lord for preserving us through the past year, for 365 days of daily bread for each and every one of us, for sustaining His ministry of Word and Sacraments among us, for hearing our prayers, for mercifully forgiving us our sins and putting up with our fears, doubts, and failures, for the good works He has worked through us and among us, for protecting us in our great weakness against the devil, the world, and our flesh, for teaching and guiding us in His ways, for raising us up again when we stumbled, and for comforting us under the cross and in times of sorrow. And let’s call upon Him, each one from his own heart, and ask Him to graciously preserve us throughout the coming year, that we may finish the year with a stronger faith, a better knowledge of God and His Word, and a firmer commitment to living each day according to His commandments.

On this evening before the 8th day of Christmas, we commemorate the two important events that took place on the 8th day of Jesus’ birth, both of which are recorded in our one-verse Gospel: the naming of Jesus, and His circumcision.

As the baby’s legal father, Joseph gave his Son the name that the angel had told him to give to Mary’s Son, just as the angel had told Mary what to call her Son: You shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.Now, God didn’t directly name very many people in Scripture, but when He did, the name meant something. Abraham, Sarah, Ishmael, Isaac, Israel, John (the Baptist)—all these are names that mean something in Hebrew. They describe something about the person who is named, in connection with God’s dealings with that person. For example, Abraham means “father of many,” because that’s what God promised him he would be. Isaac means “laughter,” because Sarah laughed when God foretold his birth, and Abraham laughed for joy when the promised son was born. Israel means “wrestles with God,” because Jacob wrestled with God and was allowed to win God’s blessing. John means “the LORD is gracious,” because John would herald the arrival of the Word made flesh, who was “full of grace and truth.” And Jesus means “the LORD saves.”

But Jesus isn’t just the herald of the LORD’s salvation. Jesus is the LORD who saves. Saves, how? From what? You have to know that, or else you’ll look to Him for the wrong kind of salvation. The angel foretold it: He will save His people from their sins. Not from poverty. Not from earthly injustice. Not from earthly disappointments. From their sins. Mankind’s sins against God are the biggest problem we have, because if God is angry with you, then no earthly success matters. But if God is favorable to you, then no lack of earthly success matters. Now, to save people from sins means, first, to pay the price of sins for those who have sinned, to reconcile sinners to God, to rescue them out of Satan’s kingdom and to bring them into the kingdom of God. How would Jesus do that? First, by living and dying in the place of sinners, to earn the gift of forgiveness for all. Then, by sending His Holy Spirit and bringing sinners to faith in Him as our Savior. And finally, on the Last Day, He will save His people from all the consequences of their sins, perfecting His work of salvation forever. But who are “His people”? (He will save His people from their sins.) His people are all who believe and are baptized in Jesus’ name. As He would later say, He who believes and is baptized shall be saved. Know the Lord Jesus as your Savior from sin, because if God Himself placed that name upon His only-begotten Son, then it must be true.

The other event of the 8th day was Jesus’ circumcision. You’ll recall that this practice among the Jews went back to God’s covenant with Abraham. I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your offspring after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your seed after you…This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your offspring after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised…and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations.

Circumcision was the sign of the covenant God made with Abraham to be his God and the God of his Offspring, that is to care for them, protect them, and to give them the land of Canaan, all of which was codified in the Law of Moses and then fulfilled when the Israelites conquered and took possession of the land of Canaan after their Exodus from Egypt.

But there was more to the covenant than that, something much greater than preserving physical offspring for Abraham or giving them a place to live. God told Abraham that through his offspring all nations on earth would be blessed. Paul tells us exactly what that means in Galatians 3, in the verses right before the text you heard this evening: Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.

As you heard in the First Lesson, that means that the Law of Moses is finished. Circumcision itself is finished, because the covenant of circumcision has been fulfilled in Christ. Now that Christ has come, who is the true Offspring to whom all those promises to Abraham were made, the Law is fulfilled. Now that the true Offspring and Heir of Abraham has been born and brought into the covenant with God through circumcision, everything points to Him. Everything belongs to Him—and to those who are linked to Him, not through physical circumcision, but through faith and Baptism, which is the New Testament, spiritual form of circumcision.

As Paul said in tonight’s reading, For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring and heirs according to the promise.

Everything Jesus possesses now belongs to those who are baptized into Him. Everything Jesus has a right to, the baptized have a right to. Everything He has won by His righteous life and by His innocent suffering and death—even the forgiveness of sins, life, salvation, and the adoption as children of God—is now applied to the baptized. But none of it would be possible if Jesus, the Son of Mary, the Son of God, hadn’t been circumcised on the 8th day of His birth, as part of God’s eternal plan for mankind’s redemption. So rejoice in Christ’s circumcision as the true Offspring of Abraham, and in your Baptism which links you to Him and to all that is His. This is how Jesus fulfills His name for you, “The LORD saves.” Amen.

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A Christmas story for the mature

Posted on December 28, 2025 by Rev. Paul Rydecki

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Sermon for the First Sunday after Christmas

Galatians 4:1-7 + Luke 2:33-40

Is the Christmas story for children? Yes. Absolutely. It pains me to know that many children don’t know the Christmas story that we heard repeated this past week. Everyone should know it, and we should all approach it with child-like wonder and awe, as we gaze at the baby in the manger who was born to us, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. But the story is not for children only. Far from it. For example, if we had gathered on the 26th, we would have heard about the stoning of Stephen. If we had gathered on the 27th, we would have heard Jesus prophesy the execution of Peter. Today, on the 28th, we could be observing the feast of Holy Innocents, when all the baby boys of Bethlehem were slaughtered (and we will consider that next week). As it is, our Gospel takes us to Simeon and Anna, two mature believers in Christ, who point us onward from the children’s story of the manger to the future of the Christ Child, to the parts of the story that are intended for mature audiences.

Our Gospel picks up the story of Christmas 40 days after Jesus was born. Mary and Joseph have brought Him to the temple in Jerusalem for the presentation of the firstborn son, and for Mary’s ceremonial purification after childbirth, both of which were required by the Law of Moses. An old, respected man in Jerusalem named Simeon has been directed by God the Holy Spirit to the temple on this same day and has been enabled by the Holy Spirit to recognize baby Jesus as the promised Christ. He has just taken the baby in his arms and has spoken the words we know as the Nunc Dimittis (Lord, now You let Your servant depart in peace), which we sing every Sunday after Communion, where Simeon praises God for allowing him to see the long-awaited Savior with his own eyes, the Savior whose purpose is to be a Light—a Light to enlighten the Gentiles and to bring glory to the people of Israel. (We’ll talk more about all that in February when we celebrate the Festival of our Lord’s Presentation.) Having heard Simeon’s words about their newborn Son, we’re told that Joseph and his mother were amazed at the things which were spoken about him.

But Simeon isn’t done talking to them yet. He has some very mature themes to present to them. Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel. Simeon knew the Old Testament Scriptures well. He knew that, if this little baby was the promised Christ, then much of His future had already revealed, had already been “appointed” by God. He had a divinely programmed purpose. What was it?

This child is appointed for the fall…of many in Israel. Here Simeon shows how well he understands the Scriptures. Most Israelites thought that the coming of the Christ would be the salvation of Israel, and it would, but not in a political sense, and not for all Israel. As the prophet Malachi had foretold, for example, Behold, He is coming, Says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like launderers’ soap. The Child in Simeon’s arms would cause many in Israel not to stand but to fall. Think of the high and mighty Pharisees and priests in Israel who fell from favor in the eyes of the people as Jesus revealed them for the hypocrites and frauds they were. Think of Judas, who fell from grace all the way down to betrayal and suicide. Think of all the people in Israel who fell away from the faith of Abraham, and from the inheritance promised to Abraham, by rejecting Jesus, the true Son of Abraham. Think of that whole people group known as the Jews, who were once God’s chosen people, but who have fallen from grace and have made themselves enemies of the Gospel of Christ, because they didn’t want the kind of Christ God gave them.

But think, too, of all people who still live in sin and impenitence, and in willful ignorance of the doctrine of Christ, refusing to repent of their sins and believe in the Lord Jesus, refusing to listen to His Word. They’ve all fallen, and they will fall even harder when Christ comes again in judgment.

But, Simeon also says, This child is appointed for the rising of many in Israel. Think of the lowlife tax collectors and sinners who encountered Jesus and were brought to repentance and faith, and who were lifted up through the forgiveness of their sins, and who went on to live a new life of obedience to God. Think of the apostles, many of whom began as lowly fishermen but rose to become God’s holy apostles. Think of Mary Magdalene, and of all who had already fallen, because of their sin, or who fell when they heard Jesus, but then, like the Apostle Paul, eventually found God’s forgiveness and salvation in Christ. Think of all those among the Jews and Gentiles who have been rescued from idol worship and from eternal condemnation and brought into God’s family by hearing and believing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. All of that lay hidden in the future of the child that Simeon held.

He also says, This child is appointed…for a sign that will be spoken against, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. Already as an infant, Jesus’ future was clear. If He was the Christ, then the Old Testament foretold His future clearly, as the Psalm says: The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. Or in the words of the prophet Isaiah, He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. The Christ was appointed for rejection, for being spoken against. And many in Israel did speak against Him, calling Him Beelzebub, even crying out for Him to be crucified.

Still today, Jesus is spoken against, by both Jews and Gentiles. Every expression of belief in a different god, or in no god at all, is speaking against Jesus. Every suggestion that you don’t have to believe in Jesus in order to go to heaven, or that you don’t have to listen to Jesus, or believe His Word in order to be a child of God—that’s speaking against Jesus, too.

Finally, Simeon points Mary to her own future in relation to her newborn Son: (yes, a sword will pierce your own soul, too). Simeon knew those prophecies that speak of the Christ’s suffering and death, even the prophecy that pointed to His crucifixion. And so, since Mary’s Son was the Christ, he began to prepare her for the difficult path ahead, for the pain of sitting at the foot of her Son’s cross, watching Him suffer and die.

In all these things, God used Simeon to point not only Mary and Joseph but you and me to the whole life of Christ, including the difficult parts and the parts that require wisdom and understanding, so that we can celebrate Christmas intelligently, maturely, so that we’re pondering who the baby was who once lay in a manger, and why He came, and how it will affect our lives.

As Simeon finishes describing Jesus’ future, Anna comes along, another mature saint who gets to meet her God in person. Luke tells us a little bit about her.

And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was well-advanced in years and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity, and was a widow of about eighty-four years, who never left the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.

The fact that Luke is able to give us so many details about Anna speaks to how highly regarded she was in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus’ birth. She practically lived at the temple for at least five decades of her life, and she didn’t spend that time gossiping with the people who came to the temple. No, she spent her time fasting, praying, and speaking about God to those who came. She had devoted her whole life to God’s service, and God chose to reward her faithfulness by revealing His Son to her in the flesh.

She came at that very moment and gave thanks to the Lord and spoke about him to all those in Jerusalem who were looking for redemption. Now we have two elderly saints, Simeon and Anna, gushing over the infant Jesus, not because of how cute He was, but because of who He was and the salvation He would bring. Anna immediately gave thanks to God for this little baby, and she also made sure to tell others in Jerusalem about Him.

And what did she tell them, exactly? She spoke about Him to “all those in Jerusalem who were looking for redemption.” Redemption is one of those big words in the Bible. It means being rescued, at a price. Redemption is what God did when He brought Israel out of slavery in Egypt, where the blood of the Passover lamb was the price that “bought” Israel’s rescue. That’s what the Christ was coming to do, to pay the price in blood for mankind’s rescue from the slavery to sin and death. The prophet Isaiah wrote, The Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” says the LORD. This is what St. Paul was talking about in today’s Epistle: When we were children, were enslaved under the principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those who were under law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. This is the word that Anna so faithfully spread to all in Jerusalem who would listen, to the mature in Israel who looked to God, not for Zion’s redemption from the Roman Empire or from earthly oppressors, but for redemption from sin. To all who trusted in God to send the Redeemer, to rescue them from their sins and to make them acceptable to God, Anna proclaimed, “Good news! Christ, the Redeemer, has come!”

Yes, good news! Christ, the Redeemer, has come! Keep celebrating His birth in Bethlehem with child-like wonder and awe. But, as you celebrate, keep growing in your knowledge of Him and in a mature appreciation of who He is and of why He came, and consider how it affects your life to believe in Him. That Child is your Redeemer. That Child is your Lord, and your King. He didn’t come to make your life easy or to give you earthly security or riches or power. Those are childish things, and those who seek them remain children, in a bad sense. Those who are mature recognize that Christ came to give us life, and life to the fullest, because without Him we have no hope in the world. But with Him as our Redeemer, we have the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation, and a future of our own as beloved children of God, who, in all things, grow up into Him who is the Head, that is Christ. Amen.

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The background of the true & wonderful Christmas story

Posted on December 25, 2025 by Rev. Paul Rydecki

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Sermon for Christmas Day

Hebrews 1:1-12 + John 1:1-14

Luke’s Gospel set the stage for us last night for the true and wonderful story of Christmas, with the shepherds of Bethlehem out in the fields, and the angels greeting them from the sky, Mary and Joseph huddling together in a cave, or a stable, or a barn, and the newborn baby Jesus wrapped with strips of cloth and lying in a manger. Keep all those images fresh in your minds as we add to them the true and wonderful background to the story, provided by John in his Gospel.

The background to the Christmas story goes back a thousand years before Jesus’ birth, to the time of David. It goes back another thousand years to the time of Abraham. It goes back about another two thousand years to the Garden of Eden. All of that history, along with the parts in between, set the stage for Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem. But John takes us back even further, to the very creation of the universe, and beyond.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. The identity of this mysterious “Word” isn’t a secret. John drops hint after hint about who he’s talking about, until he spells it out in v.14, And the Word became flesh and dwelled among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

“The Word” is John’s unique name for Jesus. Only he uses it, here in his Gospel, and in his first epistle, and in the book of Revelation. The Word—the “Logos”—is the best word the human language has for the eternal, divine Person of Jesus before He was born and named “Jesus,” before He ever had a human nature at all. He isn’t just “a” word, but “the” Word, the exact expression of the Father’s essence. Or as the writer to the Hebrews put it in the Epistle, He is “the brightness of the Father’s glory and the express image of His person.” The Word was already there in the beginning, when God the Father chose to bring this creation into existence. The Word was with God (that is, God the Father), and the Word was God (but not God the Father). He was God the Word, or God the Son. Why not mention the Holy Spirit here? Oh, John will talk about the Spirit at length later in his Gospel. But he wants to begin by focusing on Jesus. Because Jesus is the One whom John saw, and physically interacted with. And just as Jesus is called the Son, not of the Holy Spirit, but of the Father, so Jesus is also called the Word, not of the Spirit, but of the Father. Jesus is the One who was made flesh, who reveals the Father to us, and the Spirit. Jesus is the One whom Mary bore and placed in a manger. Not the Father, not the Spirit, but the Word.

All things were made through him, and without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. When the Father said, “Let there be light!” it was His Word that created the light. When He commanded the earth to bring forth living creatures, it was the Word of the Father’s command that brought them forth and brought them to life. That same Word is called both “Life” and “Light.” All very lofty terms, all very mysterious. But the point is clear: Jesus is no blip in the radar of history, no minor figure, no mere teacher or prophet. He is the God of all creation, the One who gives life to everything, and the One who reveals all truth to men, because He Himself is the Light and the Truth.

There was a man sent from God whose name was John.  He came to bear witness, to testify concerning the Light, that all people might believe through him. He was not the Light, but was sent to testify concerning the Light, that the true Light that enlightens every man was coming into the world. Unlike Matthew and Luke, John the Evangelist doesn’t begin his Gospel with the story of Jesus’ birth. He begins the story in eternity, to reveal the true identity of the Word, then jumps ahead to John the Baptist, and describes his purpose: to testify concerning the Light, to tell all who would listen, the Christ is coming! The Light is coming! And whoever wants to see the truth, about anything, must see it through Jesus, because He is the Light that enlightens every man. No one truly sees the light, or knows the truth about anything apart from Him.

He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. This is the tragedy of the Christmas story. The Creator of the world was born into the world, and the world did not recognize Him, refused to recognize Him, refused to accept that He was their God, their Creator, refused to come to God through Him. Even His own people, the chosen nation of Israel, whom He had been preparing for His arrival for 1,500 years, did not receive Him. And neither has the world today. You know how few there are who care about the true and wonderful Christmas story. You know how few people actually believe that Jesus is God, the Word, and that the Word of God is true. You know how few people acknowledge their sins and seek to be saved through the blood of the Word made flesh. God sent His Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved! But the world, for the most part, didn’t want to be saved, still doesn’t want to be saved. And that’s why the Christmas story has always been, from a worldly perspective, a tragedy, ever since the Christ Child was born.

But we Christians don’t view it as a tragedy. Far from it! Because alongside the tragic result of most people remaining in unbelief stands the wonderfully happy ending to the story for some—a happy ending that’s still available and held out to all. But all who did receive him, to them he gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in his name, who are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God. Some have received the Word, have believed in His name. And they didn’t do it by their own will. They didn’t choose to believe, or to be born again. Their earthly birth-parents weren’t responsible for it either, for as much as parents may do what they can to expose their children to the Word of God. No, God alone gets the glory for bringing people to believe in His Son. In fact, here is the hidden role of the Holy Spirit, who hasn’t been mentioned so far in John’s Gospel but who is the very Person of the Godhead who is directly responsible for enabling sinners to believe in the Lord Jesus and for giving them new birth as children of God.

You who have heard and believed the true and wonderful story of Christmas, and of Good Friday, and of Easter, are the success stories that make this story a hero story, where the Hero’s birth in Bethlehem is just the beginning of an epic tale that leads to a cross, and an empty tomb, and a kingly reign at the Father’s right hand, culminating in a return for judgment and for eternal vindication, not just of Himself, but of all who have believed in His name. You Christians, you believers in the Lord Jesus, are the ones for whom the story of Christmas was written. And, until the Lord returns in glory, the story must still be told, by you, by me, by all who have come to believe it, so that others may believe it, too. No other story compares to this one, the story of shepherds out in the fields, and the angels greeting them from the sky, Mary and Joseph huddling together in a cave, or a stable, or a barn, and the newborn baby Jesus wrapped with strips of cloth and lying in a manger. It’s true, and it’s wonderful, and more than that, it carries with it the power to create and strengthen faith in the hearts of men, because it reveals our God to us in the person of the Word who was made flesh and placed in a manger, so that we sinners might be eternally saved. Merry Christmas indeed! Amen.

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