The Fourth Sunday After Epiphany
January 29, 2012 - Pastor Adam Moline
Deuteronomy 18:15-20 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 Mark 1:21-28
Grace, mercy and
peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Our text today comes from the Old Testament lesson today, especially
these words, “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their
brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to
them all that I command him.” Thus far
our text today.
Dear friends in Christ, we have all see the classic movie the Ten Commandments. Charlton Heston plays Moses who leads God's people through countless plagues and trials, all to bring them to the promised land. Moses was the
greatest prophet ever to live in the Old Testament time. He was the best of the best of the best –
with honors! God had worked through him
his entire life to bring about the will of God in the world – to lead the
Israeli slaves out of Egypt into a promised land, flowing with milk and
honey. Moses was the best prophet, for
he had seen God face to face, (~ynIP'-la,
~ynIP) - Deut 34:10)mano y Dios.
He had spoken to God in a way that no other prophet could or would. Moses was the best.
God had worked
through Moses’ life in all sorts of ways to use him and mold him to be a good
prophet. He was rescued from the Nile
river to grow up, not as a slave, but to learn all the Egyptian customs of
court and royalty. He left Egypt after
murdering an Egyptian, and learned how to raise sheep and cattle, learned how
to live in the wilderness, and most importantly learned about God. And God sent Moses back to speak his word
boldly to a people who did not want to hear it, and through God’s work, to lead
God’s people out of slavery. Moses was
the greatest prophet, and God worked through Moses his entire life.
And yet today, in
our text, Moses speaks of another prophet, who would be raised up from the
midst of the people of Israel. A prophet
who was to come later, who would be even greater than Moses himself. A prophet more powerful and more trustworthy,
a prophet who would speak God’s word from his own mouth.
How could there
possibly be a prophet better than the greatest prophet ever? How could there be a prophet who could exceed
Moses in word and deed? How could this
thing possibly come about, for Moses was the best of the best of the best –
with honors!
But even Moses
fell into sin. Even Moses wasn’t
perfect, he was a guilty sinner, just like you and me. Moses left Egypt when he was a prince, why? For murder.
That wasn’t his last sin either.
As Moses travelled to Egypt to set God’s people free, God almost struck
him down for disobeying God and not circumcising his own children. You have to admit, Moses who saw God in the
burning bush disobeying God’s command of circumcision is pretty bullheaded. Moses sinned, as God told him to speak to the
rock so water would come out, and instead he hit it with his staff – more
worried about the show than about the word of God. And finally countless times Moses, in anger
and stubbornness, broke the eighth commandment saying, “God why did you put me
in charge of these thick headed Israelites.”
You see, Moses was
a sinner like you. He was stubborn like
you. He sinned everyday in his life like
you. He ignored God’s word at times, like
you. He got mad at his neighbor, he
spoke ill of those around him, and he tried to weasel his way out of God’s
design for his own life, just like you do.
Moses, the greatest prophet, stood before the burning bush and said,
“Send someone else Lord, and leave me alone,” just as we so often do in our own
lives. “Not me Lord, someone else, make someone else be an elder, a missionary,
a teacher, an anything. Not me, some
other poor sap instead.” Moses was a
sinner just like you.
But also, just
like you, Moses looked to a prophet who was greater. A prophet who would be raised up from the
midst of our own people, to speak the very word of God, to lead God’s people
not from Egypt to the Promised Land, but from Sin into God’s sin free promised
land – heaven.
Moses trusted
God’s word to him about that Greater prophet – Jesus. Jesus would speak God’s word better than
Moses could ever do, because Jesus mouth would be the very mouth of God. Through Jesus, the Son of God, God’s word
would come directly, not through a sinful man.
Moses trusted that the prophet Jesus would speak with authority. Authority that we see in our Gospel lesson
today, as Jesus says to a sin filled lowly demon – “Be silent, Come out of
him!” and the demon must obey, for it is God’s word that is spoken.
Jesus is the
greatest prophet, greater than any
other even Moses. (Greater by far than
false prophets like Mohammed and Joseph Smith).
Jesus is the prophet who speaks God’s word, and than fulfills all that
was spoken before. Jesus is the prophet
who says, I choose to give you life, life to the full, and will buy you through
my own bloody cross and death. And
unlike Moses, unlike Isaiah, unlike Hosea and Jeremiah, unlike dear friends
even you, Jesus is sin free. Jesus is
perfect. He does no wrong, he speaks no
wrong word.
SO when the great
prophet Jesus tells you something, you can trust His word. It comes from God. It comes from the one who died on your behalf
and rose again. It comes from the one
who now lives and reigns forever in heaven.
Hear the words
then of the prophet greater than Moses.
“Take heart, your sins are forgiven.
In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have
told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. Come to my waters – baptismal waters – for
whoever drinks the water I give will never thirst, but it will well up inside
of him to eternal life. Believe in me,
believe also in the one who sent me. I
will wipe every tear from your eyes.”
Jesus speaks these
words to you. Words from God. Words of promise for you. Words of forgiveness for you. Words from the prophet greater than
Moses. Yes, Moses was great. But Jesus is greater, and Jesus is for you. Hear his word and believe. Amen.
