Sermon Tone Analysis

Easter Eggs

An Easter egg is an intentional inside joke, hidden message or image, or secret feature of a work (often found in a computer program, video game, or DVD/Blu-ray Disc menu screen).

The name is used to evoke the idea of a traditional Easter egg hunt.

Our Gospel text today contains Easter eggs.

If you have the time, you can find them.

We love Easter egg hunts, no matter how many pietists of various stripes condemn the practice.

We love looking for treasure, and God’s Word is filled with them.

We love discovering things that have been hidden, and the Kingdom of God can only be found by those who seek it.

We love finding things that are beautiful, and the “feet of them who bring good news” are certainly beautiful, as Paul wrote in

The Obedience of Christ: In , Jesus says

Jesus doesn’t just “go from Nazareth of Galilee” on His own.

Everything that He does is according to the will of God.

His baptism by John is according to the will of God (see

God the Father confirms this in , but that isn’t all that he does here.

Easter eggs all, for those who have been trained by the Word of God.

contains more Easter eggs:

We know from the parallel passages of and

that Jesus defeated Satan in his attempts to tempt Him personally, but did you know that Satan was the bound in this confrontation and that every time Jesus cast out demons, or the disciples cast out demons, it was the fruit of this confrontation?

It was here in the wilderness that Jesus “bound the strong man” and plundered his goods ().

Satan wore the armor of temptation to doubt God’s Word and fear death.

Jesus defeated Satan and took his armor away.

Without it, Satan can be resisted by us, but even when we are wounded by his fiery darts () we are healed with His stripes ().

What Jesus established in the wilderness after His baptism, He completed on the hill of Golgotha.

There, His blood was the medicine for the poison of sin that weakens and ultimately kills us in Adam.

What He completed at Golgotha, He announced at His Resurrection and Ascension.

What He declared by His Resurrection and Ascension, He gifted to us at Pentecost for us to receive in His Holy Baptism, not merely, like John’s baptism, a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, but a baptism into Identity with Christ, a baptism into newness of life in Christ.

A baptism not of water only, but of water and the Spirit ().

We know from Scripture that God has called us, not only to enjoy the hunt, but to share the blessings of what we have found.

Not everyone has found these Easter eggs, for they look to things other than what God has given us, His Word and Sacraments.

Those who reject the Universal Objective Reconciliation that Christ offers through His Bride, the Church look to a faith that is subjective, rooted on nothing more than internal feelings that they are doing good works.

That is the same message of the Pope, whether you follow him directly or indirectly by following the doctrines that flow from those antichrist teachings, you are no different than the Catholic dogmas that you claim to reject.

The Good News of Jesus Christ isn’t about you becoming a better person, a happier person, or even a healthier or wealthier person; it’s about God being in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, and committing to us the ministry of reconciliation,

The means of grace aren’t there to put you under an obligation to empty traditions, they are given so that you can look to the promises of God rather than to the works of the flesh.

In Heaven the Trinity bears witness, and on earth, the Word and Sacraments bear witness by the power and presence of the Spirit who works through them.

[V.

Concerning the Office of Preaching]

[1] To obtain such faith God instituted the office of preaching, giving the gospel and the sacraments.

[2] Through these, as through means, he gives the Holy Spirit who produces faith, where and when he wills, in those who hear the gospel.

[3] It teaches that we have a gracious God, not through our merit but through Christ’s merit, when we so believe.

[4] Condemned are the Anabaptists and others who teach that we obtain the Holy Spirit without the external49 word of the gospel through our own preparation, thoughts, and works.

We are called to a life of Witness - Mercy - Life Together as a Confessing Community, a Holy Community, a Royal Priesthood.

We live beneath our calling when we treat these gifts as if they are common.

Christ has already won, why do we act as if we don’t know?

Jesus sent Satan packing; why do we act like he still has power over us?

Jesus kicked Satan out of His throne, and we still tip-toe around like we’re in hiding from that defeated foe.

“No way, we are not ashamed, of the Gospel or His name, holy hands are lifted high, to the name of Jesus Christ.”

That’s what our worship is about.

That’s why I won’t give up on this Confessional, historical, and liturgical life of faith, worship, and prayer.

Lex orandi, lex credendi - The Law of Prayer is the Law of Faith.

The same thing motivates and energizes both - the Word and Promise of Christ - the Gospel.