Pious Lutheran

Nativity , Sandro Botticelli, 1475 A New Birth The birth of Jesus foreshadows our new birth through Holy Baptism The birth of Jesus foreshadows our new birth in the day of resurrection Merry Christmas! “ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. ” That Word which was in the beginning, who is God, through Whom all things have been made, through Whom is life and the light of men, that Word became flesh in the womb of blessed virgin Mary. He who created Adam and Eve and Mary, who created wombs for infants, He became man and entered into the flesh and the womb of the woman He had made. He who created women to nurture and feed with their own body, was born of Mary and fed from her. He who created light and air and food and water and creatures of every size and sort stepped into His created world. Though He is uncreated, in the incarnation the infinite has put on the finite to dwell with His cr...

Madonna and Child,  Giovanni B attista Salvi da Sassoferrato, 1640 Jesus dwells among mankind. Separation from God God created all things through His Word and walked among mankind. With the entrance of sin man is kept distant from God Nearness to God The tabernacle/temple of the Old Testament brought God closer to His people, although there was still separation. The creative Word became flesh and tabernacled among us, no separation, instead communion between God and man. Merry Christmas! “ For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given. ” This only-begotten Son born in the flesh has set us free from the bondage of Sin! Today all the earth rejoices and the fullness thereof, since God has become man to set His people free and usher us into His nearer presence. The whole world changed because God has now become man; no longer is man kept at a distance from God since Jesus dwells among man. Think back to 2020. We Americans had a fairly easy time social distancing, because we’re alread...

The Nativity , Zanobi Strozzi, circa 1433-1434 The Glory of the Lord The glory of the Lord dwelt in the tabernacle/temple until the exile The fullness of God’s glory now dwells in Christ The glory of the Lord abides with us today, full of grace and truth. Merry Christmas! “ The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. ” The Glory of the Lord dwelt in the tabernacle and temple until the Israelites were exiled to Babylon. But when Christ became man, the fullness of God’s glory once again dwelt among us. Through Jesus the glory of the Lord still abides with us today, full of grace and truth.  God’s glory among us is a profound thought, but to understand it, we must first know what God’s glory is. The glory of the Lord is the presence of God’s almighty nature or essence made manifest in a particular location. The Old Testament Hebrew word for glory was cavode, which in part means heavy. So a cav...

Nativity, Jean-Baptiste Marie Pierre, 1714-1789 Merry Christmas! “ The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. ” What a joyous message it is to hear that we’re not alone and that God is with us! The desire to not be alone is a strong one. Many people live in cities or towns, many people hope that aliens are real, many people spend too much time on social media, all because we don’t want to be alone.  It’s a sad reality then that so many people are extraordinarily lonely these days. We’ve got email, telephones, text messaging, video chats, and yet people feel more alone than ever before. Why? The simple reason is that God created us to be with other people in the flesh, not just virtually. It isn’t only other people we long to be with, but it’s God we desire to be with. When God created Adam and Eve in the garden, He walked with them! Adam and Eve didn’t initially know God as an invisible spirit, like we do, but as One who spoke to them face to face. It was a result of sin that Adam a...

  Merry Christmas! Earlier this week the planets Jupiter and Saturn aligned in such a way that they appeared nearly as one large star in the sky. Probably in part due to their alignment occurring a few days before Christmas, and being reminiscent of the star the wise men followed, the sight was dubbed the “Christmas Star.”  But in giving this name to this alignment of the planets, it inevitably causes a bit of confusion, as some begin to think that this was the very same thing which the Magi followed. But, while it is quite fascinating to see these two planets align, just to be clear, it’s not what the Magi saw in the sky and followed. The alignment of Jupiter and Saturn does not make the Christmas Star. Rather, what the Magi saw in the sky was a supernatural event, not just a rare astronomical, yet natural, event. The light they saw had been prophesied of old, and this light led them directly to the Christ. This star which guided their path to worship the Savior wasn’t just a...

Merry Christmas!  “ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. ” What’s in a word? What’s happening when you speak? I’ve heard it argued that words are only words and the only thing that matters is what you do with those words. As such, I’ve also heard people defend and argue for their small children using cuss words in daily parlance. Since after all, it’s argued that they’re only words, and the only important thing is that those words are used at appropriate times. Thus, words themselves are emptied of any innate value they might have.  However such is not the case. Words are more than just empty shells with which we impute meaning and significance. Words and the language that we employ are pictures into the heart. As St. Basil writes: “Our word is a reflection of all that we are thinking.” The words you use, your choice of language, reveals the inner workings of your heart and mind.  Our Lord Jesus teaches this to us when He says: “ Hear and understand: It is...