Jesu Juva
“Once He Came in Blessing: Now He Gently Leads Us”
Text: Isaiah 11:1-10; John 6:25-35a
In the Name of the Father and of the (+) Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Once He Came in Blessing, All our sins redressing (LSB #333 v. 1).
That was the Good News we considered last week in the first verse of our hymn. The most holy Son of God came in likeness lowly, that we who were created in the image and likeness of God be restored in that gift. Restored as this most holy God bore the cross for us, giving us hope and freedom. Freedom from bondage to sin and death to live a new life.
Tonight, then, the story continues. Now He Gently Leads Us (v. 2). Now, He who died and rose from the dead to save us, does not leave us on our own, but now He gently leads us.
There are many different kinds of leaders in this world. Some good, some not so good. Some effective, some weak and feckless. Israel had the whole gamut of leaders. Judges who performed mighty and heroic deeds, and faithful kings. But also kings who led the people astray into idolatry and wickedness. Kings who relied on military might and political alliances instead of the might of God who is greater than all that. And that ultimately led to Israel’s downfall. The kingdom that during David and Solomon’s reign was so great and glorious, chopped down and reduced to a stump. The stump of Jesse, Isaiah called it.
But as we heard from Isaiah tonight, though that stump looked dead and lifeless, it was not. There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. Another Son of David would be born and grow, who, Isaiah said, would be faithful, filled with the Spirit of God, rule righteously, and bring peace. Isaiah’s words sound like Paradise restored, Paradise before sin, which is exactly what this Son of David would do. And He would do it, Isaiah says, as a little child.
At Christmas, we sing What Child Is This (LSB #370)? Who is Isaiah’s little child who will lead us to Paradise again? Isaiah tells us more, that He is not only a shoot, a branch, from the stump of Jesse, but also the root of Jesse. Both root and branch - how can this be? It is a prophecy that this child would be both God and man; the author and source of life, born into this life. He will stand as a signal for the peoples, even after His death. And His resting place shall be glorious, for the place, the grave, where His body lay is gloriously empty. And with that, with His death and resurrection, Paradise is restored and open again.
So what kind of leader is this Jesus, who Now Gently Leads Us? He leads not as a taskmaster, driving us on. Or one who races out ahead of us and urges us to catch up. But a Good Shepherd, walking with us, going before us. For He went before us into death, that rising from the dead we, too, may pass through death to life. That’s what happens in Baptism, as we are joined to Jesus in His death and resurrection. We die and rise with Him. And now with this new life, He gently leads us through the wilderness of this world - this wilderness of our own making - and back to Him in Paradise.
This again recalls Old Testament Israel, after God brought them from death to life, rescuing them from slavery in Egypt, and passing through the waters of the Red Sea on their way to the Land God promised to give them. He gently led them, leading the way in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. And feeding them. Precious food from heaven. Manna that nourished them. Faithfully. Everyday. So that they would flourish not only in body but also in soul.
And so it is with us, God’s new Israel, still today. Although we live in a world of plenty, a world that can boast of doing things unimaginable just a few years ago . . . while great progress has been made for physical life and comfort, we live in a spiritual wilderness. Where knowledge of God is little and wickedness is great. Where souls are not flourishing, sin is. Sin and false teaching leading precious souls away from the truth and away from God. Many laboring for the food that perishes, instead of the food that endures to eternal life.
The Good News we heard tonight, though, is that the one who gently leads us, is also feeding us in this wilderness. With Himself He feeds us. Precious food from heaven. Manna that will nourish, Souls that they may flourish.
Manna, or in Hebrew man hu, meaning what is it? To which Moses replied, It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.
So do we also ask, man hu? What is it, this bread that the Lord has given us to eat? To which Jesus replied, I am the bread of life. He is the bread of God . . . who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.
Our Small Catechism expanded that answer a bit . . . Man hu? It is the true Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, under the bread and wine, given us Christians to eat and to drink. And what is the benefit of this eating and drinking? That our souls may flourish with forgiveness, life, and salvation.
That our souls may flourish. God doesn’t want anemic, scrawny, timid Christians, but Christians strong and bold in confidence and faith. But for this He doesn’t just yell at us to get stronger, try harder, work ourselves out more, and do better! No. He gently leads us. He is not a coach or personal trainer barking out orders, but the great physician of body and soul, giving us the medicine and food we need for health and life and strength.
So when you find yourself weak or fearful or timid, the answer is not to rely on yourself to get over these things, but to eat your manna! To feast at the Table of the Lord. For what you need is not within yourself; it comes to you, advents to you.
Now He gently lead us; With Himself He feeds us
Precious food from heaven, Pledge of peace here given,
Manna that will nourish Souls that they may flourish (LSB #333 v. 2).
Although they were contemporaries, I don’t know if Johann Horn, who wrote this hymn, knew Martin Luther. But Luther would have approved of this hymn, both because Luther was an Old Testament scholar and would have appreciated the Horn’s Old Testament Christology, and because we find several very similar phrases in Luther’s own catechetical hymn on the Lord’s Supper, where he writes that Thou with Thy body and Thy blood didst nourish our weak souls that they may flourish (LSB #617 v. 1).
And that is what this season of Advent is all about. And when I say this season of Advent, I do not mean this season of the Church year, but this season in which we are now living. For we are living in the time, the season, of Christ’s adventing to us in His Word and Sacraments. The time of his advent in the flesh is past, and the time of His advent in glory is still to come. Now, He gently leads us, and with Himself He feeds us. So that we can await His final and glorious advent in peace and joy. Knowing that the child born in Bethlehem is Isaiah’s little child leading us and feeding us, until He comes to take us to Paradise. And so until that day we sing . . .
Come, then, O Lord Jesus, From our sins release us,
Keep our hearts believing, That we grace receiving,
Ever may confess You Till in heaven we bless You (LSB #333 v. 4).
In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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