New Beginnings: Joseph's Nightmares

Resilience through the Hopeless Times

Genesis 37:12-36

Focus: God gives us the gift of faith through the working of the Holy Spirit so that we might trust/be resilient in Christ throughout all of life

Function: That my hearers grow in their understanding that faith is a gift and the work of the Holy Spirit received through word and sacrament

Structure: Expository (Typology and Compare and Contrast)

Teaching: This sermon teaches us the importance of resilience/Faith, and trusting in Christ’s Absolution even in the midst of trials and difficult circumstances.

Big Idea: Through faith/trust in God Word and promises, we are Holy Spirit empowered to be resilient in our faith and move from rejection and hardships to redemption and restoration in the Word and Sacraments.

This fifth expository sermon in our New Beginning series kind of wraps up all of the teaching into one main point. Faith and how it works in the regular Christian life.

1. Pathway to Promise

Genesis 37:12-17

It takes faith to walk 48 miles (16 hours) alone a a young man only then to walk another 14 miles (another 4 hours which equals 20 hours and he may have had to stop for the night all by himself)

Yet for all that personal risk the most dangerous thing out there was his family. They rejected Joseph and his dreams and his pretty little boat. They threw him in a pit for dead. Except for Rueben who needed to get back in his Father’s good graces after the mess he made of the family in chapter 37 and he thought he might sell his brothers out and ransom Jacob’s little boy back to him, his own brother for purely selfish reasons.

You got to have a lot a faith to be in a family like that one.

While they sat down to eat the food that Joseph brought to them he lay hurt and left for dead in an empty pit.

You have to have faith to pray when your life is the pits

I wonder what kind of faith you would have left over in life when you are sold down the river by those you trusted… what kind of faith in God would you have if you were sold as a slave for literally $5 and human trafficed away from your home, an loved ones.

You have to have a ton of faith to believe the kind of story that Joseph’s brothers tried to sell their dad.

As a parent, how do you have faith, when its in tatters, when something as crushing as losing a child happens.

You have to have the kind of faith that trusts… that the God who made you a promise… is going to be the God who keeps that promise. You have to have the kind of faith that holds on to God when everything seems out of control.

With all of the unimaginable hardship and troubles that Joseph endured I sometimes get overwhelmed and can’t understand the difficulty he must have had to keep the faith (which he did) through all of it and trusting that God had a plan and that the promises he made to him would be kept. Sometimes I am in awe of those who keep the faith in impossible situations. Do you know one of those people? Someone in your life who kept the faith through something that you couldn’t even imagine. Faith is truly a gift (Amen)

The disciples knew there would be difficulties in following Jesus too(feeding 5,000; demon possessions, healings, calming storms, navigating politics and people). But of all the things they saw and endured they were likely not expecting a pathway for the Savior that led to a cross and tomb. They would need to have faith in Jesus past what their eyes could see. They needed to have faith that Jesus would keep His promises… and He did (Predictions about death and resurrection, witness his power to resurrect in Jairus’ daughter, widow of Nain’s son and even Lazarus). Faith is a gift attached to the promises of God in Jesus which all come true because our Faith is founded on fact.

Today we are focusing on the Biblical Teaching on Faith

Faith

Faith is the connecting link between what Jesus has done for the entire world and a person’s individual salvation. Faith in Christ is the bridge that overcomes the separation between sinful humanity and a holy God. Faith is the gift that the Holy Spirit provides which enables an individual to receive the saving grace that God offers in Christ.

What Faith Isn’t

Sometimes it is easier to talk about something by stating what it is not. This is particularly true of faith. Faith is not a general belief in the existence of God. Anybody including Non-Christians can do that, but that is not saving faith, as Paul says:

For what can be known about God is plain to all the people of the world, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse (Romans 1:19–20).

Likewise, faith is not mere knowledge about Jesus and the historical facts of the Gospel. James 2:19 says that is the kind of “faith,” that demons have, but that kind of faith only causes them to tremble in fear. Demons could identify Jesus as God’s Son, yet they were not saved by that knowledge (Luke 4:34). Just knowing the facts about Jesus isn’t saving faith.

Faith also isn’t something that we can do or a decision that we can make (John 1:13). In spite of what many people think and teach about “deciding to follow Jesus,” left to our own and apart from Christ we do not have the ability, power, or desire to make this choice. As sinners, our natural human inclination is hostile to God (He’s in our spot) and we would never choose to be in his presence (Romans 5:6, 8, 10) instead we want Him in our presence to do our will. Yikes right.... but here is the good news.... God has the power, ability, desire and love and to choose us and He did… before you were born, and after you were born and every day of your life until you die AND EVEN IN YOUR DEATH HE chose to save you from death by His death and He chose to give you life everlasting by His glorious resurrection just as Jesus said in John 15:16 “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.”

So then what is Faith

Faith is not our work, but it is a gift from God that is experienced and expressed as trust and reliance (Psalm 3:5). We trust God’s words of promise and rely upon Christ’s work of salvation in our place (Romans 4:13, 16). The gift of faith enables us to say “yes” to God’s offer of forgiveness, life, and salvation and to thank him for that gift. While faith is not the same thing as knowledge, faith does involve knowing God’s saving work in Christ (Romans 10:13–14). Because no one can believe in someone they do not know, the relationship of faith always includes some kind of knowledge about who we believe in. It also includes some kind of agreement that this knowledge is something that is reliable, true, and certain (John 6:69). Finally, there is a sense of trust and assurance that results in an absolute reliance on God’s revealed grace in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20–21).

Sometimes I like to think of faith as a trapeze act*

Perhaps the analogy of a relationship with a girl or boyfriend might seem helpful. You first need to be acquainted with the person you intend to date. It may take some phone calls or brief encounters. Even a “blind date” relies on some kind of basic information about the person. Once you have met the person, you may want to get to know him or her better. You may finally agree to the invitation to go on a date with that person. The relationship begins to grow. As trust develops, you may consider the person reliable and agree to continue dating. Finally, over time, you may find that you want to spend your life with that person—you are ready to commit yourself to the person and trust him or her for the rest of your life. That is the most dominant metaphor in Christianity for your relationship with Jesus. We cannot believe in him unless we first know him (Romans 10:14). As the relationship develops, which includes intellectual knowledge and recognition of certain facts (Hebrews 11:1), but most importantly these facts are personally meaningful and trustworthy; there is a confidence of the heart (John 17:3). This kind of metaphor depends on your full commitment to the relationship to make it happen (see Matthew 15:21–28; Luke 7:1–10; John 4:47–53). But that’s why I don’t like the dating analogy. Because it depends on us to make the commitment and its on us to keep the relationship going and good. It’s also kind of gross to think that you are dating God and that, with the same fluidity we have in our relationships now, we can have the same kind of fluidity with our relationship with God. You can fall in and out of your salvation three times before Tuesday. This metaphor has led people to believe that God likes them or not based off of what they have to offer Him and it comes off as transactional in an unbiblical kind of way.

That’s why I like Jesus’ metaphor for who God is to us. In Luke 11 when He teaches His disciples how to address God He says that we should call and think of God as “Father.” This metaphor is way more helpful. Because think of it… even infants can be in loving, trusting relationships with parents and other individuals. These relationships grow and may deepen over time, but they remain stable relationships of love. The relationship of faith is not a matter of age or of intellectual ability or attractiveness. It is a gift that is given, created, and sustained by God himself and so is available to all people no matter what. The parent metaphor is better is way better. Notice how you didn’t chose your family (even if you wanted too), your family chose to have you… the only choice in that relationship is to walk away. But even if you walk away they will still be there when you come back and they will still keep you as family. It is meant to be one of the most stable relationships you have. That’s also why we say that Faith begins in the Home. The dating metaphor is based off of works or performance or inherent love-ability or attractiveness or even the ability to make yourself attractive through your tireless efforts. God as Father is way better to frame how you understand your relationship with God.

With all that set Faith, then, is a matter of God’s working in us to establish and maintain a relationship with him. We trust the Father’s word because of what he has done for us in the world, and especially in Christ. He has established a growing relationship between Jesus and us through the working of the Holy Spirit. As we get to know Jesus more by the power of his Spirit, we find that we learn to know the Father better, too. So, a Spirit-created faith changes, grows, and matures for each of us even as we all go throughout life on different pathways (Ephesians 4:15–16).

Another way of speaking about faith would be to say that faith is the tool, instrument, or power that enables your heart to reach out and take hold of the forgiveness of sins that Christ won for you. A person with a prosthetic arm and hand initially needs help to put on that arm. Faith is like a prosthetic arm that God gives to us which then enables us to cling to Jesus. Without that arm, we are powerless, but with that arm of faith we are restored to a full relationship with our creator and redeemer. Notice that faith does not achieve forgiveness, earn it, make us worthy of it, or even move God to give it. Rather faith simply receives what God has worked for us, it is the instrument for grasping hold of God’s promises.

The Object of Our Faith

Finally the object of our faith is really key to this whole issue of faith. Faith is always IN something, or better yet, in SOMEONE. We can’t cling to wishful thinking or to a dream. Nor can we really trust in material things which will erode over time (Matthew 6:19). These false objects of faith will eventually prove untrustworthy. Faith holds on to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). He is the substance of all Scripture (John 5:39; Luke 24:27). Faith clings to God’s scriptural promises which are based on the certainty of the effectiveness of Christ’s death and resurrection (Romans 4:24–25). God’s word of promise and our human faith are directly connected (John 3:36). A promise without someone believing it is ineffective; believing in something without substance is dangerous superstition or misleading imagination (Hebrews 11:1–3).

So all of that is to say that faith is the gift and believing is the act. Faith is our “believe-ability.” Faith is an act, but it is a work that God has done in us and not something that we do ourselves. Another comparison would be to eating: we eat, but our act of eating does not give us strength, rather it is the food we eat that nourishes us and when our faith is nourished it makes us resilient to endure difficult times like Joseph had.

2. Betrayal to Blessing

Genesis 37:18-24

The depth of Joseph's rejection and betrayal by his brothers is a profound sense of loss. Joseph lost everything that day… everything but his faith in God. So how do you have faith while you are also grieving a real loss of who you used to be and whom you used to be able to depend on.

When I read the story of Joseph and I think of his outlook on what was going on in his life I think of that quote by… ironically… Joseph Stowell. “We’re going to have tough days, but that’s all right because the big day is yet to come.” or better yet that vese from 1 Thessalonians 4:13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to . . . grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.

Joseph’s story teaches us

1. Hope and Joy Are Possible even when you are going through it

2. He trusted above all that God Had a Plan to Fix the World

3. He also believed that God’s Plan to Fix the World Was Personally true for him and not just some big idea for just the world out there

4. As a Christian, if you are grieving You Can still Have Joy Because of What Christ Has Done for You

5. But it is equally as important to know that as you are grieving that You Can still Have Hope Because of What Christ Will Do for You

Like Joseph it is important to Realize that there is a place you are going where everything will be whole and made right and that’s a promise that God keeps to your faith

So if you are grieving deeply for some loss in your life just know its because you loved deeply. If you are experiencing some sort of grief or loss just know that it does not have to dominate your life or cause you to become stuck in despair. Because of what Christ has done for you, you can grieve with a firm faith. Because of what Christ will do for you, your grief will be transformed by faith into hope. You don’t have to wait until you are over your grief to have faith and hope or even joy— by faith in Christ you can have them now! As you look at God’s promise listen to what He says in Isaiah 25:8-9.

He will swallow up death forever.

The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces. . . .

In that day they will say,

“Surely this is our God;

we trusted in him, and he saved us.” (Isa. 25:8–9)

If you want to know what grieving without faith looks like just look at Reuben. He was sad not because he lost his brother… he was sad because he couldn’t use his loss to benefit himself and his self serving love.

I think you can tell that the only way to have a resilient faith is to have the kind of faith that is a gift from God, kept strong in God and rooted in the confidence that the Holy Spirit who created and sustains your faith will also grow it when God calls you to deep waters.

Faith is learning to trust in God past how we feel. We pray this every times we pray the Lord’s prayer. Especially at the end in the seventh petition when we pray… deliver us from evil.

When we pray like this we pray in faith that our Father in heaven would deliver us from all kinds of evil, of body and soul, property and honor. And finally, when our last hour shall come, we pray and trust in faith that He would grant us a blessed end and graciously take us from this vale of tears to Himself into heaven.

This is a prayer to find solace in the fact that, like Joseph, our deepest trials, burdens, betrayals and the evil we face can lead to these redemptive moments through faith in Christ's who Himself knows ultimate betrayal and suffered all sin and evil on the cross and He still rose in victory over death and all that in the empty tomb

3. Despair to Deliverance

Genesis 37:25-28

In verses 25-28 we reach that moment when Joseph is sold into slavery and this is a strange turning point in the early part of the Bible’s story. Some things from earlier in Genesis start to get accounted for (Gen 4:9; Ishmael; how Egypt becomes a place of where God tests and saves His people),

Egypt likely seemed like the end of the road for Joseph but the end of the road is often just God rerouting us towards His redemption. But this is not something easy to see. How many of your have been rerouted in life, any major detours.... how many of you can’t trust even trust your GPS when it calculates a new route. What ever you experienced or whatever you are going though in life… your gonna need faith to see the end of the road as your God planned destination. (Hard to do when faith, according to the Bible, is something hoped for that you cannot see)

If you are feeling like crying out or if you know someone who is crying out: Where are you God? If you or they feel 'sold out' or forgotten by God. Press into the Word of God… with faith press into the cross of Jesus, in life we are all bearing a cross (but the good news is that you do not have to die on it) and everyone who bears a cross is guaranteed a resurrection (now/heaven).

4. Hope in the Hopelessness through Word and Sacramental Living

Genesis 37:29-36

At the end of our reading in verses 29-36 we see the loss and grief on Israel. It’s hard to see other’s grieving isn’t it. Often times people try to give answers or explanations when others are going through grief. However this is rarely if ever effective in providing care. We want to fix something that cannot be fixed. Sometimes its just better to be with a grieving person and to be a person of faith who shares what faith gives in the midst of loss and greif. What helps people in these moments is not a solution or an answer. What helps is connection. So when Joseph is gone and when Israel is asking the question: how do we live? The only thing to hold on to is faith. Faith in Christ is the only hope for a grieving person, family, home, school, community, nation or world.

Unseen hope is an act of faith in hopeless situations.

Like Joseph's story, God is working through the Spirit by Word and Sacraments for our good, just as He did through Christ's resurrection, turning seeming defeat into eternal victory. A great place to grieve is here at church. A great place to bring hopeless people is church. A perfect place for lonely people is church. Because they come into contact with the only hope for the life of the world and the Holy Spirit works through the means of grace to create the faith that can see us through all of life’s trials and nightmares and give us a new beginning.

That’s why we call is Ab-solution

That’s why we call it Eucharist (Joy feast)

That’s why baptism is a washing away of the Old and the Beginning of something new.

The means of grace help us to experience that receptive surrender to God as we rest in His hands while He lovingly carries us through the times in life when we cannot walk or see the end. Joseph couldn’t see the connection that God was making while he was going through it and we may not see the connection to God’s work in our lives as we are going through it. But through faith we can see a deeper connection. When we look back we can see that Christ was with us (in the tough times) the whole way. Just look at that Christ connection in Joseph’s life.

Christ is the connection

At every point in Joseph’s life there was a connection to Christ but he couldn’t see it or but so couldn’t Israel or any of his brothers but but with faith we can see it… we can see the Christ story through this story and we can give thatnks that God gave them the faith and more importantly that God was faithful to His promise… God delivered Joseph… and He has delivered us too… in Christ. we have hope in hopeless time because our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and Righteousness (DA Carson two Hebrews at the first Passover)

As a teenager, Lisa faced a difficult family situation where it seemed like there was no hope. However, through prayer, reading the Bible, and receiving Holy Communion, she found strength and resilience to overcome the challenges, realizing that God kept His promises even in the darkest times.

Imagine a scenario where a family is going through a financial crisis, and despite the struggles, their faith in God's promises remains strong. Their resilience and hope come from the consistent reading of Scripture and partaking in the Lord's Supper, knowing that God's faithfulness is their source of strength in the darkest times.

In the Bible, we see the story of Joseph who experienced betrayal, slavery, and imprisonment, yet he held onto God's promises. Ultimately, he became a leader in Egypt, realizing that God's faithfulness sustained him even in the darkest times. This biblical example teaches us that resilience is given to us through the power of the Holy Spirit working in Word and Sacrament.

For many young people facing challenges in school and relationships, they may feel overwhelmed and hopeless. Yet, the power of the Holy Spirit, working through the Word and Sacrament, gives them resilience and strength to endure and overcome. God's promises sustain them in the darkest times of life.

Consider a situation where a group of adults are navigating the difficulties of a pandemic. Despite the uncertainties, their faith in God's promises provides resilience and hope. By staying connected to God through His Word and the Sacraments, they find the strength to persevere, experiencing firsthand how God keeps His promises in the darkest times of life.

In your daily life at home, when you feel rejected by family members or face challenges, remember the promise of God's love through Baptism and the Word. Spend time in prayer, reading scripture, and meditating on the assurance that God is always with you.

As a teenager, dealing with rejection from peers can be tough. Lean on the Lord's Supper and Confession and Absolution to find strength and forgiveness. Seek guidance in prayer and talk to a trusted adult or mentor about your struggles.

At work, when you face criticism or feel rejected by colleagues, find comfort in God's promises. Practice forgiveness and grace towards others, remembering how Christ forgave us. Use your actions to reflect God's love in all you do.

As a teenage student or worker, experiencing rejection can be disheartening. Hold on to the promises of God's Word as your source of strength. Encourage others who also feel rejected and show kindness and compassion in your interactions.

In the community of believers, find support and encouragement through Confession and Absolution. Be open about your struggles with rejection and seek prayer and guidance from your church family. Remember that you are valued and loved by God, no matter what the world says.

1517 article I wrote that is related

Genesis 50:15-21

There is a beautiful connection between a promise made at the beginning of Genesis and the fulfillment of that promise at the end of Genesis. God promised Abram in Genesis 12:1-3:

“Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

That blessing to Abram would be a promise that would be passed down through each of his descendants until it would be fulfilled one day by one man. It was a word of hope that each generation desired to see fulfilled. At the end of Genesis, we see that Joseph is a logical conclusion to the book of Genesis because Joseph is a fulfillment of the blessing to Abraham. Don’t believe me? He left his country and father’s house. God made his house and his name great in Egypt. Joseph was indeed a blessing, especially to all who blessed him. Those who dishonored him felt cursed. All the families of the earth were blessed by him during the famine (41:56-57).

The only problem is that Jospeh only fulfilled the blessing to Abram partially. He was a savior but not THE Savior. Joseph was only a partial Savior to a portion of people at only one point in time. The problem is that he died and stayed dead and needed to be carried back into the promised land, not the Savior they were exactly hoping for. Cleary, in our text for this Sunday, Joseph also didn’t really give assurance of the forgiveness of sins to his already forgiven brothers. Joseph was a man who fit the mold of the blessing to Abram, but he was just a man. Only God can give the full assurance for the forgiveness of sins and salvation to all the peoples of earth. It is clear in our text we need someone greater than Joseph. We need someone who will not stay dead but bring us eternal salvation and bring all of humanity into the promised land of paradise restored. We need someone who is not only is in the place of God (v 19) but is in fact God with us (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23). We need the kind of Savior who would give us full assurance for the forgiveness of our sins because He is fully God and fully man. We need a Savior who is the full and complete fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise. We need the one who is the seed (not seeds) of Abraham (Galatians 3:16). The promise to Abram was always about the Messiah. It was always a fulfillment of that original gospel promise at the beginning of Genesis (3:15). We need the one whose name is not only great but the name that is above all names (Philippians 2:5-11). We need Jesus who is greater than Joseph.

This sermon would be great for a compare and contrast type structure. But not for the sake of an informational coincidence. The purpose for the sermon could be to delve deeper into the theological confession of the doctrine of absolution. This is important because Joseph’s brothers, who are already welcomed back into the family by grace and forgiveness, are struggling with their sin and the need for reassurance.

“In the sanctified life, Christians will find that they experience a continuing struggle with sin. The struggle with (or better, against) sin will continue throughout the life of Christians because Satan is always on the prowl seeking to get us back into his territory and possession (1 Peter 5:8). That is why God provides concrete sources for strengthening the Christian. The Christian finds strength for daily living through Absolution. The words of Absolution bring us back to our baptism and recall the fact that we live in baptismal grace. In Absolution we hear the words of God himself, through the voice of the pastor, speaking his forgiveness. With Jesus comes all the assurance and power for living our Christian lives. As Paul reminds us, it is “Christ … in me” (Galatians 2:20) that is really living the sanctified life.”[1]

For this Sunday let’s try the Compare and Contrast Structure. “This structure systematically explores relevant similarities and/or differences between two topics in order to accomplish a purpose for the hearer. In this sermon, the purpose of comparing/contrasting is crucial. The sermon, thus, does more than simply inform hearers of similarities and/or differences. It uses that information for a purpose (absolution), and that purpose often makes a difference in their lives.

In presenting this information to the hearers, the preacher has a choice of two approaches. He can work whole-to-whole (i.e., offering all of the individual items of one topic before proceeding to a listing of the individual items of another topic: A1, A2, A3 and B1, B2). Or the preacher can work part-to-part (i.e., offering one item from each topic and then proceeding to the next item: A1/B1, A2/B2, A3/B3). In part to part, a larger theme will be present for the hearers that slowly unfolds through the comparison.”[2]

Here is a possible list comparing/contrasting the similarities between the narratives of Jospeh and Jesus.

Joseph’s story:

1. Joseph was the beloved of his father (37:3)

2. Joseph was hated by his brothers (37:4, 5, 8)

3. Joseph’s brothers plotted to kill Joseph (37:18-20)

4. Joseph was stripped of his coat (37:23)

5. His brothers, while eating, intended to murder him (37:25–27)

6. Joseph was sold into Egypt by Judah (37:26–27)

7. Joseph was taken out of a death sentence in prison alive (37:28)

8. Joseph was sold for the price of redemption (37:28)

9. Joseph’s blood sprinkled coat (goats blood) was presented to his father (37:31)

10. Joseph became a servant (39:1)

11. Joseph was numbered with the transgressors (cupbearer and the baker) (40:1-3)

12. Joseph was delivered from prison by the hand of God (41:14; 45:7-9)

13. Joseph is exalted, and set over all Egypt (41:39-40)

14. Joseph was thirty years old when he began his work (41:46)

15. Joseph’s resurrection was followed by many blessings (41:47-49)

16. Joseph gave bread to a dying world (41:55-56)

17. Joseph became a Savior to all people (41:54; 57)

18. Joseph was unrecognizable to his brothers (42:6, 8)

19. Joseph was revealed to his brothers at their second coming (45:1-5)

20. A Joseph forgave and became a Savior to his brothers (45:4-5)

21. The first report of Joseph being alive was not believed (45:26)

22. Joseph comforted those who sinned against him (50:21)

The similarity to Jesus’s story:

1. Jesus is the beloved of the Father (Matthew 3:17)

2. Jesus was hated by His brothers (John 15:25; Luke 19:14)

3. His own people plotted to kill Him. (Matthew 12:14; 26:4)

4. Jesus was stripped of His coat and covered with a scarlet robe (Matthew. 27: 28)

5. His own people, while eating the Passover feast, desired to kill Him (Matthew 26:2-4)

6. Jesus was betrayed and handed over to the Sanhedrin by Judas (Matthew 27:3)

7. Jesus resurrected from His death sentence in the tomb fully alive (1 Corinthians 15:4b)

8. Jesus was sold for thirty pieces of silver (the price of a slave) (Matthew 26:15)

9. Jesus is our scapegoat, and His blood was presented to the Father as a sin offering (Hebrews 13:12; Leviticus 16:8-10)

10. Jesus became a servant (Philippians 2:6, 7; Luke 22:27; John 13:1-17)

11. Jesus was numbered with the transgressors (Isaiah 53:12) as He was crucified with two thieves (Mark 15:28)

12. God raised Jesus from the tomb (Acts 2:32; 10:40)

13. Jesus is highly exalted by God and all will bow before Him (1 Peter 3:22; Philippians 2:9-11)

14. Jesus was thirty years old when he began His public ministry (Luke 3:23)

15. Everyone in the world is blessed on account of Jesus. (Romans 11:25; John 12:24)

16. Jesus gives the true bread of life to all (Acts 4:12; John 6:48–57)

17. Jesus is the Savior of all (John 3:16; Revelation 5:9)

18. Jesus’ is not recognized by His own (John 1:10-11; 14:9; Luke 24:16)

19. Jesus will be revealed to everyone at His second coming (Zechariah 12:10; Matthew 24:30-31; Revelation 1:7)

20. Jesus forgave and saved all sinners (Luke 23:34; Matthew 1:21; Acts 5:31)

21. His own did not believe Mary when she reported Jesus alive (Luke 24:10–11)

22. Jesus comforted those disciples and all who abandoned him at the cross (John 20:19)

Conclusion: Do not be afraid. Yes, your sins put Jesus on the Cross but look at His empty tomb. Jesus is alive with full assurance and forgiveness of sins for all who believe in Him. Hear these words from Genesis 50:20: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” Alive on account of Jesus’ death for our sins and resurrection for our restored relationship with God.

[2] https://concordiatheology.org/sermon-structs/thematic/comparisoncontrast/