Proper 5

Carl Fickenscher’s Summary

Jesus Has Defeated the Devil and Released Us from the Bondage of Sin and Death

The devil deceived us, enticing us to disregard and disobey the Word of God and driving us to hide “from the presence of the Lord God.” But the Lord, in His mercy, promised a Savior, who would set Himself against the devil on our behalf (Gen. 3:8–15). The Son of Man came, the incarnate Son of God, conceived and born of the woman. He “first binds the strong man,” Satan, by atoning for the sins of the world, thereby removing the condemnation of the Law and the fear of death (Mark 3:27). Now He plunders the devil’s house by calling all men to repent. Though He appears to be “out of his mind” (Mark 3:21), He fulfills the will of God and makes of us His own brothers and sisters. Therefore, “we do not lose heart,” despite the suffering, sin and death that we experience in this fallen world. “He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus.” By His grace, we are “being renewed day by day.” For the Gospel is daily bringing us into His presence, not for punishment, but for “an eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor. 4:14–17).

Gen 3.8-15 The Man and Woman Disobey

Genesis 3:8–15 RSVCE

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of thee in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent beguiled me, and I ate.” The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all cattle, and above all wild animals; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

Notes: We read these as a family, I said this passage isn't so much about snakes (don't want to get in any traps as in the Scopes' trial) but this is about the enemy in that form. Because the words and curses against the serpent are really about two groups, even two kingdoms, the seed of the woman and the serpent and his offspring, not snakes per se.

Psa 130 De profundis

Psalm 130 RSVCE

A Song of Ascents. Out of the depths I cry to thee, O Lord! Lord, hear my voice! Let thy ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications! If thou, O Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plenteous redemption. And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

Notes: I remember two things, the de profundis from the depths part and the redemption from love part. There are two related words in the last two verses, in 7c and 8a, redemption pedut and redeem pada, and so the second is the headword or more general word but it is a two and not three consonantal word. TWOT says that pada, its semantic development, was very important for Christian theology. The most basic meaning is "to spare" or "to ransom" and made the comment that the Israelites were released from Egypt on the payment of the death of the firstborn (of the Egyptians). The blood spared the Israelites' firstborn but that was not something magic but was itself the blood of the one year old lamb. In the NT, with Paul but everywhere else, we find that really there is no price we could pay so the real object, not the representative as lamb, had to pay.

2Co 4.13-5.1 Paul’s Confident Boldness - Experience of Righteous/In Light of the Resurrection

2Co 4.13-5.1

2 Corinthians 4:13–5:1 RSVCE

Since we have the same spirit of faith as he had who wrote, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we too believe, and so we speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed every day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, because we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

Notes: I'm not sure what we talked about here other than our earthly bodies die and before that break down, but we have a heavenly body. I didn't mention this but should have, that that body may be able to walk through walls and locked doors, but it can have scars, and eat.

Mrk 3.20-35 Mounting Opposition—the Beelzebub Controversy

Mrk 3.20-35

Mark 3:20–35 RSVCE

and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for people were saying, “He is beside himself.” And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Be-elzebul, and by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” And he called them to him, and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man; then indeed he may plunder his house. “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— for they had said, “He has an unclean spirit.” And his mother and his brethren came; and standing outside they sent to him and called him. And a crowd was sitting about him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brethren are outside, asking for you.” And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brethren?” And looking around on those who sat about him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brethren! Whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

Notes: Here is another instance of the unpardonable sin. I don't think this is committed that often. And really, there are people who say the worst things about the Church and Christians and later get saved. So they seemed to have been blaspheming the Holy Spirit but maybe not.