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Location: Hattiesburg, Mississippi, United States

Sunday, January 23, 2011

3rd Sunday after the Pentecost 1/23/11 Text: Matthew 4:12-25

3rd Sunday after the Epiphany
1/23/11
Text: Matthew 4:12-23
Title: The Kingdom of Heaven is Near.

We are now celebrating the third Sunday after the Epiphany. Epiphany which always falls on January 6, twelve days after Christmas, is that time when the three Wise Men gathered to worship the infant Jesus. On that day we learned that Jesus is not just the God of the Jews, but the God of the Gentiles also. Each Sunday from that time to the start of Lent we will discover, or maybe it would be better to say rediscover, more about Jesus.

The first Sunday after the Epiphany we saw Jesus getting baptized in the river Jordan. He did not need the baptism, but was baptized so that he could stand in solidarity with his human creation. We heard God the Father say, “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.” From that we learned that Jesus is truly the Son of God. We also learned that Sunday that because we are united in Christ Jesus by our baptism into his death and resurrection, that we are also beloved sons and daughters of God the Father.

The second Sunday after the Epiphany we heard John the Baptist call out, as he saw Jesus walking nearby, “Behold the Lamb of God.” This connected with the people of that day, for when the Israelites were slaves in Egypt and Pharaoh would not let them go they escaped the killing of their first born animals and families by having each family kill an unblemished lamb, and then spread its blood on the door posts of their home. An innocent animal’s blood would protect them.

When John called out when he saw Jesus, “The Lamb of God.” they, at least those who still believed, knew what John meant. The Messiah the perfect lamb, for whom they had been waiting so long had arrived.

From this we learned that Jesus is the perfect fulfillment of what the lamb’s death stood for, for so many years. Just as the unblemished lamb was killed and its blood spread on the doorpost to save the firstborn of Israel Jesus was killed and his blood spilled on the cross to save humanity from everlasting death.

Today is the third Sunday after the Epiphany. Our Gospel reading for today is rich in teachings. There are too many to talk about this morning, so I have picked out what I consider to be of the most value for us, as we wait for the Lord’s return here in the Hattiesburg area.


When you heard Jesus say in the Gospel reading, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” you might have remembered that John the Baptist said the same words when we read the account of Jesus being baptized. Both John and Jesus are proclaiming the same message.

“Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” caught my attention because as far back as I can remember that statement from Jesus meant that the kingdom of heaven is coming sometime in the future. I found, in talking to others in the Bible studies that most of them thought the same thing. God’s kingdom is coming in the future.

Every week, as is my custom, I study the text in Greek, not only so that I am prepared to lead my weekly Bible studies, but to prepare for the Sunday morning sermon. I am by no means a Greek scholar, but in my struggles I learn many things that quite often do not come out in the English translations. This week was no exception.

When I was reading “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” I found out that in the Greek it is God’s kingdom has already come, is here now, and will continue into eternity. Do you see what I mean? God’s kingdom is not something we are looking for. It is already here. We are living in it.

That is important for us, for it brings the kingdom of God from some abstract thought, for which we have no present day connection, to the concreteness of our lives. It is, as I said last Sunday finding God at work in the messiness of our lives.

Let’s see what Martin Luther has to say about our God’s kingdom in his explanation of the Lord’s Prayer. Please turn to page 324 in your Lutheran Service Book, the Second Petition. I will ask the question. You all will respond.

P: Thy kingdom come. What does this mean? C: The kingdom of God certainly comes by itself without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may come to us also.

P: How does God’s kingdom come? C: God’s kingdom comes when our heavenly Father gives us his Holy Spirit, so that by his grace we believe his holy Word and lead godly lives here in time and there in eternity.

As we see from that explanation the kingdom of God is here without any help from us. We are only asking that God comes to us keeping us in the kingdom, so that we might enjoy the blessings of his kingdom. God’s kingdom can be best described as a three-fold kingdom, for in doing so it describes the completeness of God’s kingdom.

First, there is his kingdom of power. That is everything we see and don’t see in his creation. Everyone whether Christian or not are born into and live in God’s kingdom of power.

The second kingdom is God’s kingdom of grace. This is what we call the Christian Church wherever Christians are found. You enter that kingdom through the work of the Holy Spirit that gives you faith. Only Christians belong to God’s kingdom of grace.

It is only through God’s kingdom of grace that you can enter God’s kingdom of glory when you die. In his kingdom of glory you will be with God, the angels, and all fellow Christians who have died in the faith.

These kingdoms describe the kingdom of God. Isn’t it wonderful that we live in his kingdom? We are born into it, come to faith in it, and will continue to live in it when God calls us home.

After prayer and studying of the Word that I am going to talk on and before the actual writing of the sermon for Sunday I always ask the question, “So what does this mean for me, and those who are listening?” I then try to write the answer to that question down, for to not find the answer means God’s Word has no meaning for me or you. And we know that is not true.

So what does the Word of God, “Repent, for the kingdom of God is near.” mean? As we learned earlier God’s kingdom exists whether a person believes in it or not, so there is great comfort in that truth. We are not alone. The world, as chaotic as it is, is still under God’s control. In the end his will, will be accomplished. My dear brothers and sisters in Christ draw peace in that truth.

God is at work in his kingdom giving faith through the work of the Holy Spirit to those he loves. I live in that kingdom. You live in that kingdom. God has brought you into faith. He gives you everything you need to stay in faith. And in the end when God chooses, not when someone else decides all those who are in God’s kingdom of grace will be taken into God’s kingdom of glory.

What a wonderful God we have. Just as he promised he provides for all we need here physically and spiritually. All he asks is that we trust in him, accept his forgiveness and care, and stay in the Word of God. He doesn’t ask you to do those things so that you will be more acceptable in his sight. You are accepted because of Jesus’ birth, life, and death. He asks you to do those things because he knows that when you trust in him, accept his forgiveness and care, plus stay in the Word of God you will live a more peaceful life, happier, and contented life. Amen.