When we examine baptism, we normally think that one professes Christ, and then that person is baptized. This would make the sign a sign of faith. We can assume that when Peter calls Israel to repent and he says, “For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” (Acts. 2:39). We can claim that those who are far off are those who eventually come to faith as the Gospel spreads out. The ones who are far off are those who will hear the gospel, receive Christ, and then be baptized.

It is true that we can take this view of Baptism if we only look at Acts 2:39. We could say just from Acts that this is a problem for those who receive the Gospel. However, what happens when we start expanding the sign to be a sign of the covenant community? What if we see the sign as more than just a sign of my new life? What if we consider some of the pregnant promises that Peter calls to our attention from the Old Testament?

When we ask these questions, we see that the sign is not a sign of my faith, but a sign that is given to the community. It is given to the house of Israel or the house of the wrestling ones. God gives this sign to his people to testify to the truthfulness of his promise. He promised to overcome death, Christ entered history to overcome death, Christ is seated on the right hand of the Father, and therefore we see that this sign given to the household of faith, the church, is the sign that testifies that God’s people overcome in Christ.

We can see this because Peter cites the Old Testament throughout his Pentecost sermon, communicating that Christ is the confirmation/fulfillment of the Old Testament promises. The very promise of the gospel given to Abraham, signified in circumcision, is the sign of Christ’s work. He is the one who is cut off. Baptism is the sign that looks back to Christ’s victory as circumcision looks ahead to the coming seed of the woman. Baptism is a sign that testifies that Christ has been consumed in the death waters, but death could not hold him. Baptism testifies that Christ and His covenant people have moved from death to life in Christ’s historic work.

This is why children are exhorted to obey their parents. This is why Paul even appeals to the fifth commandment in his household codes. The intention of the covenant community continues. God works in the context of the church and the Christian household, even if only one parent professes faith; otherwise, your children would be unclean. (1 Corinthians 7:14).

So, we baptize infants because our God is a consistent God who works in the context of a community. It is a sign that testifies that the Spirit is at work in the pilgrim people on this earth. it testifies to a new family comprised of Jew and Gentile. It is a sign that testifies that God’s people have moved from death to life in Christ Jesus. It is a sign that ultimately calls us to look to our savior and his victorious work of securing our victory over death.

Mary Magdalene goes out early in the morning to show her love for Christ. We know from Luke’s gospel that she heads out with the other women to prepare Christ for burial. John records for us that she went out alone or at least he does not tell us that she is with the other women. John wants us to hear Mary’s testimony alone.

She runs to the disciples and reports to them that Jesus is not in the tomb. The assumption is that grave robbers have stolen him, which is not a far-fetched assumption considering her day. Peter and John race each other, and John reminds us that he is a better athlete because he arrives at the tomb first, but Peter is either foolish or highly confident because Peter runs right into the tomb without any regard for his safety. If grave robbers were in the tomb, that could have ended really badly for Peter. They notice something that Grave Robbers would never do, in fact, anyone who has teenagers knows this would be out of character, the grave clothes are folded and sorted. Why would a grave robber take time to do that? Why would a grave robber even bother to take off the linen wrapping, let alone fold it up? They realize that something magnificent has happened. They realize that Christ has been raised.

Mary has encountered the resurrected Christ. She thought he was the thieving gardener. However, when she realizes it is Christ, she knows that he is her rabbi, her teacher, and her Lord. She clings to him, but she must realize that while we are called to cling to Christ, our ultimate assurance is that Christ clings to us. Christ must ascend to the Father, where he goes to prepare our eternal dwelling. Ultimately, as Christ ascends to heaven, to know that his kingdom, prophetic promises, and ultimate victory is secured. Death has been definitively defeated in Christ.

The disciples might realize that Christ is risen, but it is not too long after this that we find them locked in a room. The first time Christ encounters them is on the first day of the week. He proves to him that it is Christ as they touch his hands and his side. It is 8 days later they are in the locked room once again. Thomas is there and he exclaims, “My Lord and My God!” When he realizes that Christ is raised, securing the eternal passage to glory, confirming the Lord’s promises, and is definitively our shield and defender. How often do we trust the security of the locked door and fail to recall the Lord’s protection of his people in Egypt, the Wilderness, in Exile, and even in the midst of the turmoil in Acts.

The Lord’s people never fall out of his hand, no matter what they face, even in the turmoil of martyrdom. We are one-dimensional in our view, and fail to comprehend living a life in this age while seated with Christ in the heavenly places. Praise be to God that we live in his Shalom kingdom, he is our shield and defender, and he leads us through the valley through the shadow of death. Ultimately, the turmoil we desired for ourselves in the fall, God overcame in his resurrection victory.

Truly, Peace be with you! Our Lord is risen! He has overcome! His kingdom is established.

This is the last reading for our Good Friday and Easter series. We are going to be looking at John 20. This is the record of Christ being raised from the dead where the heavenly courts confirm Pilate’s words, “Behold Your King!” If Christ remains in the grave then we have no Easter message. If Christ is never raised it means that God as not overcome death. One could argue that Easter is far more important than Good Friday. Yes, we need the lamb of God and Son of Man to take away our sins. However, if he is never raised from the dead it means we are still in our sins because Christ was not the perfect sacrifice.

This is our reading for Good Friday as we enter into the Lord’s presence. It is the assurance that the Lord is the man, the one who has redeemed us securing us in our savior.

Christ’s strong statements about the law and prophets are a response to the Pharisees’ letter of the law application of Moses. They are asking the question: what is my legal right? It is true that God sets boundaries in his law. However, the deeper question we are invited to ask is, “What pleases my Lord?” This radically changes one’s orientation in this age. One moves from a position of self-righteousness to a position of humility where one desires to be taught by the Spirit.

Christ does not undermine the authority of God’s law. He emphasizes the enduring nature of the law and prophets, highlighting their role in proclaiming his confirmation of their word. Christ gives examples where the Pharisees have a fixation on technicalities using the example of loving mammon, not a demon, but mammon meaning their own significance in this age (wealth, prestige, social class, etc.). They also give the technical legality of divorce misunderstanding the intention for marriage and man’s hard-heartedness. Ultimately, Christ is pointing out that the sinners push and strive to enter the kingdom while the Pharisees sit on the sidelines mocking it as a mere preference at best.

Christ then teaches a parable that seems to contradict his concerns regarding the Pharisees. Why this strange story about a rich man and a beggar named Lazarus? Well, Christ is teaching the importance of understanding God’s standard and the intention of his standard rather than just the letter of the law. Despite the rich man’s outward prosperity, his self-righteous self-indulgence demonstrated by his lack of care for Lazarus, led him to eternal suffering, while Lazarus’s long-suffering and waiting on the Lord ended with him in eternal comfort exalted at Abraham’s side at the heavenly banquet. The rich man remains clueless demanding that Lazarus does something about his pain. Like the unjust manager, he fails to see how his actions, and false comfort in himself lead to his predicament.

The parable shows that the rich man should have seen the deeper implications or intentions of God’s law. He should have manifested compassion like the Lord shows compassion for his people. Instead, he flaunted his wealth and thought he was righteous rather than showing mercy to the man named “Assisted by God” or Lazarus. The challenge of this age is valuing things with the eyes of faith. It is the challenge of having the humility to see that we need Christ not only for our heavenly inheritance but even for the wisdom to live it out as we live as living sacrifices to the Lord out of gratitude. May the Lord grant us the values of heaven and may we be in the class of people who push our way into the Kingdom of God.

A rich man confronts his manager for squandering wealth. This manager is like the youngest son in the previous parable. He squanders the wealth. It appears that there is no plan. The rich man fires him from his position, but not immediately. The manager, realizing his limited options, knows that he is not able to do manual labor, and he is too proud to beg. He is not like the youngest son in the previous parable. So, he devises a shrewd plan to secure future employment by reducing the tenant’s debts owed to the rich man. This will place the tenants in an obligation to take in the shrewd, but dishonest manager into their homes. He is not looking for a lasting situation, but this will buy him some time until he figures out what to do next. This tells us that the manager is not incompetent, but very self-serving.

The rich man does confront the manager, but he does not rebuke the man or put him immediately outside where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. We would expect that reaction, but rather Jesus commends the dishonest, but shrewd manager. The reason: he knew how the world worked. He figured out how to exploit the social norms to secure his survival. He understood life under the sun.

Jesus is not saying that our call is to exploit people. Jesus is saying that sons of light need to be wise and prioritize the kingdom of God. As the sons of his age know how to survive this sin cursed world so the sons of light should see how to survive in this age as citizens of heaven.

Christ is simply teaching us that prioritizing the kingdom of God, discerning what is pleasing to the Lord, and making friends with those who align with the kingdom is our priority. This is the consistent message of the parable of the banquet in chapter 14 where one does not participate in banquets to advance self but to celebrate life in the Lord.

Christ is driving home a twofold slavery. One can either be a slave to the prestige of this age or one can be a slave of the Lord. One has to consciously pursue one master for their enslavement. This is where we see that when the Lord owns everything we use our resources wisely seeking to advance his cause rather than our own. This is a challenge, isn't it? On the one hand, Ecclesiastes encourages us to enjoy the fruits of our labor (2:24,25; 3:12-13; 5:18, 19). Then we are called to make friends with the poor and the fatherless. Clearly, living out the gospel takes deliberate thought that is only given to us through Spiritual wisdom.

This is why our living out the gospel has to start in faith. It is by faith that we live in the kingdom because the Spirit has given us this faith. We live seeking to please our God and ultimately know that it is Christ who is our master, but also our redeemer. Let us seek to please our savior not because we are terrified, but because of the reverent love and honor. He is the God who not only made friends with the sinful and the unclean, but he redeemed the unworthy making them worthy. Let us seek to live in His wisdom wisely discerning the kingdom.

Normally we think of the parable of the prodigal son highlighting the contrast between a repentant sinner and a self-righteous individual. The younger son squanders his inheritance, leading to a life of hardship and desperation. Ultimately, he realizes his mistake, repents, and returns home, seeking forgiveness and a place as a servant.

A prodigal son squanders his inheritance and returns home, seeking forgiveness, and never changes his desire to work as a slave. His father, overjoyed, welcomes him back with a grand celebration, symbolizing redemption and forgiveness because his father does not allow his younger son to receive the village’s ridicule.

The older son returns from the field. He sees the celebration and is resentful of the celebration. He has slaved for his father all these years. Rather than going into the banquet, he chooses to plead his case. He tells his dad how hard he slaved for his father.

The contrast of this parable is profound. The younger son repents and potentially thinks that he needs to prove his worthiness to come back into his father’s house. We do not know his full realization. In fact, he might even be manipulating his father by working as a slave. You see he can work hard to be a slave, then his father has to embrace him as a son, and he gets another inheritance. However, when his father invites him to the banquet we see that he is not working to manipulate his father, but understands that he is to enjoy his father.

The older brother should go into the banquet and celebrate that his brother has come to his senses. Rather, the older brother focuses on how he slaves to prove his worthiness for his father’s affection. He failed to see that his father did not demand for him to slave or be a slave, but to enjoy his relationship with his father. He has always had his father.

One thing that the parable is teaching us is that the Christian life is not about proving our worthiness of God’s grace, but enjoying our Lord as we are in communion with him, the saints throughout the ages, and should even see ourselves aligned with the angelic assembly. Let us be a people who enjoy the fellowship we have with our God seeking him out of gratitude rather than slaving for his approval.