For those who have wandered away from the community of the faithful, coming back can be filled with both fear and joy, both shame and redemption. Our text for today is no exception.
It was the Lord’s delight to crush the Messiah Jesus for the sinners of the world. Reminding us how we would have nothing without the Suffering Servant.
The Christ brings a baptism in order to gather all those sinners who are scattered across time and geography to be God’s people united in redemption and salvation.
Solomon prays for grace, and he gets it, and it is not because he asked for it. It is because that is the kind of God he has, a gracious God, full of steadfast love and faithfulness even when we are not.
In the season of Advent, we speak of a present-day hope that we have in God through the work of the Holy Spirit to create and sustain faith in us through the Word and Sacraments.
It is the Messiah’s mighty arm which will vindicate God’s people. We place our hope, trust, and full confidence in His nail scared but resurrected arms, feet, and side.
The righteous dead in Christ have already passed through the judgment at Calvary where our sentence was pardoned on account of Christ’s shed blood and resurrection.