Rev. Paul J Cain, Jr.
Deuteronomy 32: 36-39
I Kill and I Make
Alive
Palm Sunday/Sunday of the Passion, 24 March 2013
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Sheridan, Wyoming
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit. Amen.
About the Cover: “I kill and I make
alive.” These mysterious words find their fulfillment in the Passion of Jesus.
The Father gives His Son into death on the tree so that the Son may give us the
divine life that is in His body and blood. He is wounded for our
transgressions, yet His very wounds heal us. None can deliver us out of His
hands, but His wounded hands deliver us all!
Luther called this
idea the Great Exchange. Christ’s death involved a righteous man dying for
unrighteous people—us!
36 For the Lord will vindicate his people and have compassion on his
servants, when he sees that their power is gone and there is none remaining,
bond or free.
Who is doing the
work here? It is clearly the Lord Himself. He vindicates, has compassion, and
sees His victory over all foes.
Prepare yourself for
a little mocking, perhaps even sarcasm. As Elijah made fun of false Gods in 1
Kings, here in Deuteronomy, the Lord Himself does the mocking of pretenders to
His holy throne.
37 Then he will say, ‘Where are their gods, the rock in which they took
refuge, 38 who ate the
fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them
rise up and help you; let them be your protection!
Just before He sent
Gideon as a Judge for His people, He sent a prophet that proclaimed the Law: 7 When the people of
Israel cried out to the Lord on account of the Midianites, 8 the Lord sent a prophet to the people of Israel.
And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I led you up from
Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery. 9 And I delivered you from the hand of the
Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before
you and gave you their land. 10 And
I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; you shall not fear the gods of the
Amorites in whose land you dwell.’ But you have not obeyed my voice.” [1]
That text from
Judges 6 is Law. So is this question: Who is your God? Is it one that changes
based on mere cultural whims? Is it a God who indulges your sinful preferences,
saying the Ten Commandments don’t apply anymore, or at least don’t apply to
you? What is your God?
The solution to the
problem of not liking God, rejecting His Word, and blowing off all Christians
as hypocrites is not apathy, being an agnostic, or embracing atheism. It is
this: “I kill and make alive.” No creature, no part of creation, no philosophy
can both kill and make alive. The Lord alone, the Creator, can do this. Only
God in Christ could re-create you in the death and life of His only Son.
You shall have no
other gods. That’s what the First Commandment says. [Luther tells us] 1 What this means: You shall
have Me alone as your God. What is the meaning of this, and how is it to be
understood? What does it mean to have a god? Or, what is God? 2 Answer: A god means that
from which we are to expect all good and in which we are to take refuge in all
distress. So, to have a God is nothing other than trusting and believing Him
with the heart. I have often said that the confidence and faith of the heart
alone make both God and an idol. 3
If your faith and trust is right, then your god is also true. On the other
hand, if your trust is false and wrong, then you do not have the true God. For
these two belong together, faith and God [Hebrews 11:6]. Now, I say that
whatever you set your heart on and put your trust in is truly your god.
4 The purpose of this commandment is to require true faith and trust of
the heart, which settles upon the only true God and clings to Him alone. It is
like saying, “See to it that you let Me alone be your God, and never seek
another.” In other words, “Whatever you lack of good things, expect it from Me.
Look to Me for it. And whenever you suffer misfortune and distress, crawl and
cling to Me. I, yes, I, will give you enough and help you out of every need.
Only do not let your heart cleave to or rest on any other.”[2]
Luther knew the
Lord’s Word in Deuteronomy 32: 39 “‘See
now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make
alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.
The Lord wounds us
that He may heal us. He proclaims the Law that we may be convicted. He
proclaims His Gospel that we may be comforted. We die to sin in Holy Baptism
and arise with Christ’s new life to serve Him in righteousness and purity
forever, in this life and in life eternal.
JIP: A man distressed about sin wrote to Luther. The Reformer, who
himself had suffered long agonies over this problem, replied: “Learn to know
Christ and him crucified. Learn to sing to him and say—Lord Jesus, you are my
righteousness, I am your sin. You took on you what was mine; you set on me what
was yours. You became what you were not that I might become what I was not.”
Compare Paul: “For our sake [God] made [Christ] to be sin who knew no sin, so
that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Link up with Jesus, the living Lord, by faith, and the great exchange is
fulfilled. Through Jesus’ atoning death God accepts you as righteous, and
cancels your sins. This is justification, forgiveness, and peace.[3]
About the Cover: “I kill and I make
alive.” These mysterious words find their fulfillment in the Passion of Jesus.
The Father gives His Son into death on the tree so that the Son may give us the
divine life that is in His body and blood. He is wounded for our
transgressions, yet His very wounds heal us. None can deliver us out of His
hands, but His wounded hands deliver us all! Amen.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit. Amen.
