Sermon for the Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity, 2024

When the servants met the man and told him the joyous news that his son lives, and he recognized that this blessed turn of events happened at the same hour as when Jesus said to him, “Your son lives,” we are told a second time, that he himself believed. He already believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way; his faith had already been strengthened and bolstered. Now, however, he believed even more confidently than before. Why? Because he did see a sign and wonder, after all. The faith that Jesus implanted into this man by His Word did not need signs or wonders; nevertheless, it receives them now, with joy and thanksgiving, for they serve to further faith. And so does this happen in your life, Beloved. First, you are brought to believing—that is, to faith—by the Gospel. Then, that faith is further nurtured and bolstered by the signs and wonders that accompany the Word and Gospel. And the signs and wonders that accompany the Word that God speaks to you serve to guarantee that Word. The sign of Baptism guarantees God’s claim on you; the sign of the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar guarantees that God paid, in blood, to remit you your sins and to ransom you back to Himself. 

Readings:

• Old Testament: Genesis 1:1–2:3

• Epistle: Ephesians 6:10-17

• Holy Gospel: John 4:46-54

Sermon: