The Joshua Victor Theory

  Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Walk, walk, walk. The Bible talks a good bit about walking. Not the walking your dog type of walking, but how you conduct your life. A good walk vs. a bad walk. Walking in the way of righteousness vs. the way of wickedness. God’s Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path, while darkness and pitfalls surround the pathways of disobedience and lawlessness. In Exodus today God tests the Israelites: whether they will walk in His law or not (Exodus 16:4). Then Paul urges us: “walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.” Walk worthily or walk unworthily. The Scripture is full of this contrast. To walk worthily, you must know the difference between a good and bad walk. Just like to seek health, you must know the difference between health and sickness. You can’t be doing destructive things to the body. To seek justice, you must know the difference betwe...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Today’s parable may be familiar: the Pharisee and the tax collector. Two men are praying to God in the Temple. They stand up before God and before men. But with two very different attitudes and   outcomes. Jesus approves the tax collector with this phrase: “ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” Jesus approves the tax collector with the word “ justified.” That’s God’s verdict—God has declared you innocent; righteous in His eyes—justified. The other possible verdict is “condemned”—God declares you guilty, or unrighteous in His eyes. Justified or condemned, innocent or guilty—these are the two opposite verdicts. The surprise is that Jesus doesn’t justify the man who appears better, more law-abiding, and religious—namely, the Pharisee. But instead, the tax collector, a d...

• To know and to do—very different things (P. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary). Jesus established that the teacher knew the Law correctly—but to do it is a far greater matter. A great many good things we know we ought to do, by the 10 Commandments, but how much harder is it to do than to simply know? A child may know their parents told them not to fight with their siblings—but doing it… • Jesus teaches the Law’s promise: “Do this and you shall live”. That’s all well and good if you can do it, but if you don’t do it? Gal. 3:10-11 tells us this very command becomes a curse to us, because “cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them. 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”” • Teacher wanted to justify himself. Betrays his motive. Wants the law to do what the law cannot do, because of our sinfulness. 21 Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! ...

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. Of all the topics debated during the Reformation, and of all the teachings of the Christian faith that the Lutheran Reformers stood for, justification was the most important. Martin Luther and the Reformers called the teaching of justification the “ article on which the church stands or falls.” If the article of justification is destroyed, the church falls; so we have the highest duty to get this teaching right. The main question is whether justification includes our good works, or rests on faith alone. Our Gospel shows our salvation depends on this teaching! How does “justification” tie in with our reading today? The parable of the Pharisee and tax collector, says it was that the tax collector, not the Pharisee, who went home justified. Probably if we use the word “justify” in our daily conversation, it’s almost always to describe someone trying to excuse or defend their own beh...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Today Jesus says that a little faith can do incredible things. ” If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea’ and it would obey you.” Elsewhere Jesus describes a faith that can cast mountains into the sea. If it only takes the faith of a tiny grain of mustard seed to do these amazing things, perhaps some of us are wondering why more Christians aren’t throwing trees and mountains into the ocean to demonstrate the power of their faith? Maybe they don’t even have faith this small? Unfortunately, however exciting that might be to see, Jesus doesn’t seem to be telling His disciples to throw more trees into the sea, or that it’s His Father’s will for them to do this. Rather, Jesus is instructing us about faith. He’s saying faith is needed for even more difficult and important jobs than tree-tossing and mountain throwing. And it’s not a gia...