Text: Matthew 10:5a, 21–33
Theme: The Son of Man comes to us
Other Lessons: Jeremiah 20:7–13; Psalm 91:1–10 (11–16); Romans 6:12–23
A. In the Name of the Father…Amen.
B. The Gospel lesson serves as our sermon text for today.
C. Grace, mercy, and peace be yours from God our heavenly Father through
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
D. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray:
LSB 659:1-2 Lord of Our Life
Lord of our life and God of our salvation,
Star of our night and hope of ev’ry nation:
Hear and receive Your Church’s supplication,
Lord God Almighty.
See round Your ark the hungry billows curling;
See how Your foes their banners are unfurling
And with great spite their fiery darts are hurling,
O Lord, preserve us.
Introduction
A. A Lutheran pastor had a second full-time job outside the church—as a
painter at an auto body shop.
1. This is what is called being a worker-priest.
2. One of his fellow employees, also a Christian but not Lutheran, was a
funny guy who almost on a daily basis would yell at the pastor, “Look busy!
Jesus is coming!”
3. This, of course, meant to compare Jesus with a boss who would punish an
employee for being lazy.
B. Sometimes, the pastor would jokingly yell back things to the other guy
to have a good laugh but also to teach him.
1. One time, the pastor might say, “Oh, Jesus already came. Didn’t you meet
him?”
2. Another time, the pastor would yell, “If Jesus is coming, you’re in big
trouble!”
3. Once, the pastor said, very seriously, “Jesus comes to our church every
Sunday.
A. He speaks to us through the Word,
B. He forgives us,
C. and He gives us heavenly food to eat and drink in his presence.
D. Would you like to join us?”
E. That pastor was right.
F. Jesus is always coming to us in the Divine Service through his Word and
Sacraments for our forgiveness, eternal life, and communion with God
(Matthew 10:5).
C. But it rather difficult to know exactly what Jesus meant in our text by
the phrase “the Son of Man comes.”
1. He told the disciples that they would not complete going through all of
the towns of Israel until the Son of Man comes (verse 23).
2. Hadn’t he already come with his incarnation when he was conceived in the
womb of the Virgin Mary?
3. Hadn’t he already come when he was born?
4. Hadn’t he already come when he was baptized by John in the Jordan River?
5. Hadn’t he already come in his public ministry?
A. The answer to all these questions is: Yes!
6. What then does he mean by “the Son of Man comes”?
D. What are the possibilities surrounding this phrase: the Son of Man
comes?
1. Perhaps Jesus was looking ahead to his coming at His glorious
transfiguration.
2. Or He was talking about His coming on Palm Sunday when He rode
triumphantly into Jerusalem—
A. only to be betrayed,
B. tried,
C. suffer,
D. die,
E. rise again,
F. and then ascend back into heaven.
3. Another option is that He was talking about His coming to judge the
world on the Last Day.
E. These comings all did or would happen.
F. What if we might add one more option.
1. What if Jesus comes to us even now?
G. Pastors, Bible scholars, and students of the Holy Scriptures have
struggled for centuries with interpreting just what Jesus means when he
says “the Son of Man comes,” but let’s look at the possibilities
1. The Son of Man came at his incarnation.
A. The incarnation happened when Jesus was conceived in the womb of the
Virgin Mary.
Luke 1:30–35 (NASB95)
30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor
with God.
31 “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you
shall name Him Jesus.
32 “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the
Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;
33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will
have no end.”
34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”
35 The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the
holy Child shall be called the Son of God.
B. Jesus is both Son of God and Son of Man because of the incarnation.
1. Jesus was born into the world as both God and man, fully divine and
fully human.
Matthew 1:21–23 (NASB95)
21 “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will
save His people from their sins.”
22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through
the prophet:
23 “BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY
SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL,” which translated means, “GOD WITH US.”
2. Jesus lived a perfect life as God and man for us under God’s Law to
fulfill it on our behalf.
2 Corinthians 8:9 (NASB95)
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich,
yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might
become rich.
3. Jesus ministered as both God and man, preaching, healing, and serving
for our salvation and eternal life.
Luke 4:18–19 (NASB95)
18 “THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE
GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND
RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED,
19 TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.”
2. The Son of Man came to redeem us.
A. Jesus’ redeeming acts intensified after he rode into Jerusalem on Palm
Sunday and began to be rejected by the people later that day.
1. On the same night that Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, Thursday of
Holy Week, he was betrayed by one of his own disciples.
Matthew 26:14–16 (NASB95)
14 Then one of the twelve, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests
15 and said, “What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?” And
they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him.
16 From then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus.
Matthew 26:21–25 (NASB95)
21 As they were eating, He said, “Truly I say to you that one of you will
betray Me.”
22 Being deeply grieved, they each one began to say to Him, “Surely not I,
Lord?”
23 And He answered, “He who dipped his hand with Me in the bowl is the one
who will betray Me.
24 “The Son of Man is to go, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that
man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that
man if he had not been born.”
25 And Judas, who was betraying Him, said, “Surely it is not I, Rabbi?”
Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself.”
Matthew 26:47–50 (NASB95)
47 While He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, came up
accompanied by a large crowd with swords and clubs, who came from the chief
priests and elders of the people.
48 Now he who was betraying Him gave them a sign, saying, “Whomever I kiss,
He is the one; seize Him.”
49 Immediately Judas went to Jesus and said, “Hail, Rabbi!” and kissed Him.
50 And Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you have come for.” Then they
came and laid hands on Jesus and seized Him.
2. All of this led to his trial, beating, and being crowned with thorns:
Matthew 27:27–29 (NASB95)
27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and
gathered the whole Roman cohort around Him.
28 They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him.
29 And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head,
and a reed in His right hand; and they knelt down before Him and mocked
Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
A. This then led to Jesus suffering and dying on the cross according to
God’s plan to atone for the sins of the world.
Matthew 27:33–35 (NASB95)
33 And when they came to a place called Golgotha, which means Place of a
Skull,
34 they gave Him wine to drink mixed with gall; and after tasting it, He
was unwilling to drink.
35 And when they had crucified Him, they divided up His garments among
themselves by casting lots.
B. After Jesus rested in the tomb to fulfill the Sabbath law, he was
gloriously resurrected on the third day.
1. The Son of Man came back to life!
Matthew 20:18–19 (NASB95)
18 “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man will be
delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to
death,
19 and will hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify
Him, and on the third day He will be raised up.”
2. So now he offers eternal life to all and gives it to everyone who
believes in him.
John 11:25–26 (NASB95)
25 Jesus said to [Martha], “I am the resurrection and the life; he who
believes in Me will live even if he dies,
26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe
this?”
C. Forty days later, Jesus ascended into heaven and was enthroned at the
right hand of God to prepare a place there with him for all who believe in
him as their Redeemer.
Luke 24:50–53 (NASB95)
50 And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and
blessed them.
51 While He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into
heaven.
52 And they, after worshiping Him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy,
53 and were continually in the temple praising God.
3. The Son of Man will come again in glory.
A. Just as Jesus ascended into heaven on the clouds of glory, so he will
come again on the clouds of glory on the Last Day.
1. Everyone who has died will be raised in their bodies from their graves
and will stand before him.
1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 (NASB95)
13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are
asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring
with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive
and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have
fallen asleep.
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the
voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ
will rise first.
17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in
the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the
Lord.
18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
2. All who are still alive when he comes will be changed, their bodies made
ready for eternity, and will fly up into the air to meet him.
1 Corinthians 15:51–52 (NASB95)
51 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be
changed,
52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the
trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will
be changed.
B. Jesus will judge all who have ever lived.
1. He will put the believers on his right (the sheep) and the unbelievers
(the goats) on his left.
Matthew 25:33–34, 40 (NASB95)
33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are
blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world.
40 “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the
extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of
them, you did it to Me.’
Matthew 25:41, 45-46 (NASB95)
41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed
ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his
angels;
Matthew 25:45–46 (NASB95)
45 “Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you
did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’
46 “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into
eternal life.”
2. Those who believed in him he will judge as righteous, and their works
will give evidence;
A. unbelievers will have nothing good to show.
1. Their “good works” seen as “filthy rags”.
3. All will be assigned to their eternal dwellings, either in heaven or in
hell.
4. The Son of Man comes now to save us.
A. Jesus instituted the apostolic and holy ministry and empowered his
pastors by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost to carry on his own ministry until
the Last Day.
1. Jesus commanded his holy ministers to:
A. preach the Holy Word purely
B. and to administer rightly the Sacraments of Holy Baptism, and Holy
Communion.
2. By these means, the Holy Spirit creates and sustains in people faith to
receive forgiveness and eternal life through Christ’s gifts.
A. Explanation to the Third Article of the Creed:
I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus
Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the
Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true
faith. In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the
whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one
true faith. In this Christian church He daily and richly forgives all my
sins and the sins of all believers.
On the Last Day He will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to
me and all believers in Christ. This is most certainly true.
B. In this way, Jesus himself comes to us now in the Divine Service.
1. He is really, truly present with us through his Word and Sacraments.
2. He himself:
A. purifies us of our sins,
B. sanctifies us to share in God’s holiness,
C. and blesses us in our relationship with God and one another.
Conclusion
A. We may not be able to discern exactly what Jesus meant when he used the
phrase “the Son of Man comes,”:
1. We do know and believe that he came with his incarnation when he was
conceived in the womb of Mary to be born, live, and minister to us.
2. We do know and believe that He came to redeem us:
A. by his suffering,
B. his death on the cross,
C. his resurrection from the dead,
D. and his ascension back into heaven.
3. We do know and believe that He will come again in glory on the Last Day
to judge the world.
4. And we do know and believe that He comes to us now through His Holy Word
and Holy Sacraments in the Divine Service to bring us heavenly forgiveness
and eternal life.
A. Therefore we rejoice that the Son of Man has come to us this day and is
present with us now in this place. Amen!
B. Let us pray:
LSB 659:3-4 Lord of Our Life
Lord, be our light when worldly darkness veils us;
Lord, be our shield when earthly armor fails us;
And in the day when hell itself assails us,
Grant us Your peace, Lord:
Peace in our hearts, where sinful thoughts are raging,
Peace in Your Church, our troubled souls assuaging,
Peace when the world its endless war is waging,
Peace in Your heaven.
Text: Public domain
C. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts
and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
D. In the Name of the Father…Amen.