On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Matthew 2:11
Extraordinarily Ordinary
If you say, “yesterday was an extraordinary day,” you mean that something incredible happened. But if you say, “yesterday was an extra ordinary day,” you mean that it was even more normal and boring than usual. Just making one word into two gives the sentence an entirely opposite meaning.
Extraordinary events surrounded the Magi’s visit to Bethlehem. But there were also a few extra ordinary things they discovered on their journey. An ancient prophecy and an extraordinary star led them to an extra ordinary little town called Bethlehem. The star stopped above what was probably an extra ordinary home. Inside, they found an extra ordinary looking Jewish couple with an ordinary-looking baby.
But the Magi saw past the child’s ordinary surroundings. They saw their Savior, who was going to give them a gift far more precious than the gold, frankincense, and myrrh they had just laid at his feet. That baby would give the gift of sins forgiven and eternal life. The wise men didn’t need to see a king in a palace surrounded by servants. They’d likely seen plenty of kings like that in their lifetimes. The Magi needed to see their Savior. That’s exactly what God led them to see.
It’s human nature to think we need more than what God has given. Maybe you’ve felt that attitude creep around in your heart. What God provides you in his Word might not seem like enough. You want him to do more for you. You want him to communicate more extraordinarily with you.
But God chooses to use some extra ordinary looking ways to bring his good news to you. In the ordinary pages of the Bible, we see the Savior who proves his eternal kingship with a resurrection from the dead. In baptism, we see ordinary water poured out on a person’s head, marking them as an adopted child of God. In Holy Communion, we see ordinary bread and wine that, when the Word is spoken, have the power to forgive even the darkest sins. The means by which God extends his love to you look like ordinary things, but they work extraordinary results.
Prayer:
Dear Father, thank you for giving me the extraordinary message of Jesus in ordinary ways every day. Amen.
I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness. Isaiah 61:10
Gift Wrapped for God
What do you think of your new clothes? We’re not talking about the new clothes you might have gotten for Christmas, but the new clothes that the Lord has gifted to you. Our eyes can’t perceive these new clothes we’re wearing, but God notices them on us. He sees us wrapped in “garments of salvation” and a “robe of righteousness.”
We didn’t pick these clothes out or buy them for ourselves. These clothes were a gift from Jesus. And he paid a steep cost to give them to us. He paid with his life for us to wear these clothes. More than that, he took our grimy, dirty, sin-covered clothes away from us when he gave us his garment of salvation.
Martin Luther famously captured this exchange that happened at the cross when he said, “Lord Jesus, I am your sin; you are my righteousness. I have made you what you were not; you have made me what I was not.”
Jesus has made us what we were not. Jesus wraps us up as gifts for his heavenly Father. He presents us to the Father, wrapped in his perfection. He says, “These people are my joy. And I know you’ll love them too, Father.”
Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for gift wrapping me in your garment of salvation and robe of righteousness. My soul rejoices in you because you covered my shame and sin with your forgiveness and glory. I am precious in God the Father’s sight. Let that truth give me peace every single day. In your name, O Lord. Amen.
“I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.” Isaiah 61:10
You Are What You Wear
Some have said, “You are what you wear.” If you are in a clown suit, you probably are a clown. If you’re wearing a baseball hat, team jersey, baseball pants, and cleats, you probably are a baseball player. If you are wearing a beautiful white wedding dress, you probably are a bride. You are what you wear.
By birth, we needed new spiritual clothes to wear. Why? Because, by nature, we are sinful people who are wearing sinful, dirty, greedy clothes.
Thankfully, through Jesus, God has given us new spiritual clothes. The prophet Isaiah wrote that, “He has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness.” The LORD himself has given us his garments of salvation; he has dressed us in his robe of righteousness. “Righteousness” is a word that means “perfection.” How did he do this? First, Jesus lived a perfect life; he was robed in righteousness. Then Jesus lovingly made a trade. He dressed us in his perfection and clothed himself with our sinfulness. Taking our sins on himself, he suffered the punishment we deserved. By his death, he paid for our sins so that we will never have to.
As a result, we can delight greatly in the Lord! Martin Luther put it this way: “In his righteousness I live, not in mine.” In the end, who are we? Check out Isaiah’s description of our clothes once again. We are saved. We are perfect in God’s eyes. We are what we are wearing—beautifully perfect in the pure clothing given to us by God himself.
Prayer:
Dear Jesus, thank you for becoming what you were not, so that I might become what I was not. Give me great joy as I remember who I am through you—one who is clothed in a garment of salvation and arrayed in a robe of righteousness for all time. Amen.
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The Vision of the Seven Seals: The First Four Seals
1 And I watched when the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. And I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come.” [1]
2 And I looked, and there was a white horse, and its rider held a bow. A crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.
3 When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come.” [2]4 And another horse, a fiery red one, went out. Its rider was given power to take peace away from the earth so that people would slaughter one another. And a great sword was given to him.
5 When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come.” [3] And I looked, and there was a black horse. Its rider had a scale in his hand. 6 And I heard something like a voice from among the four living creatures say, “A quart [4] of wheat for a denarius, [5] and three quarts [6] of barley for a denarius. And do not dilute [7] the oil and the wine.”
7 When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come.” [8]8 And I looked, and there was a pale green horse. And its rider was named Death, and the Grave [9] followed closely behind him. They were given power over a quarter of the earth, to kill people with the sword, with famine, with death, and by the wild animals of the earth.
The Fifth Seal: The Souls Under the Altar
9 When the Lamb opened the fifth seal, under the incense altar I saw the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of the word of God and because of the testimony they had maintained. 10 And they called out with a loud voice, saying, “O Lord, holy and true, how long until you judge and exact justice for our blood from those who live on the earth?” 11 A white robe was given to each one of them. And they were told to rest a little longer until their number would be complete, when their fellow servants and their brothers [10] would be put to death as they were.
The Sixth Seal: The Last Judgment
12 And I watched when the Lamb opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun became as black as sackcloth made of hair. The entire moon became like blood. 13 The stars of the sky fell to the earth as a fig tree drops its unripe figs when it is shaken by a strong wind. 14 The sky was removed like a scroll being rolled up. Every mountain and island was moved from its place.
15 The kings of the earth, the nobles, the military leaders, the rich, the powerful, and everyone—slave or free—hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 And they kept saying to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the great day of their [11] wrath has come. Who is able to stand?”
Footnotes
Revelation 6:1 Some witnesses to the text add and see.
Revelation 6:3 Some witnesses to the text add and see.
Revelation 6:5 Some witnesses to the text add and see.
Revelation 6:6 Or liter
Revelation 6:6 A denarius was about one day’s wage.
Revelation 6:6 Or liters
Revelation 6:6 Or adulterate
Revelation 6:7 Some witnesses to the text add and see.
Revelation 6:8 Or Hell, Greek Hades
Revelation 6:11 When context indicates it, the Greek word for brothers may refer to all fellow believers, male and female.
Revelation 6:17 Some witnesses to the text read his.
1 And I saw a scroll in the right hand of him who sat on the throne, with writing on the front [1] and on the back, sealed with seven seals.
2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll by breaking its seals?” 3 No one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it. 4 And I began to weep bitterly because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. 5 Then one of the elders said to me, “Stop weeping. Look! The Lion from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed and is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
Worthy Is the Lamb
6 And I saw a Lamb standing in the center, near the throne, surrounded by the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders. The Lamb seemed to have been slain, and he had seven horns and seven eyes (these are the seven spirits of God that have been sent into all the world). 7 The Lamb came and took the scroll out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne. 8 And when the Lamb took the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders bowed down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and gold bowls full of incense (these are the prayers of the saints). 9 And they sang a new song, saying:
You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and you bought us [2] for God with your blood out of every tribe and language and people and nation. 10 You made them [3] to be a kingdom and priests for our God, and they will reign on the earth.
11 And I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels who were around the throne and around the living creatures and the elders. Their number was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands upon thousands. 12 With a loud voice they were saying:
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.
13 I also heard every creature that is in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:
To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever.
14 The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders bowed down and worshipped.
Footnotes
Revelation 5:1 Some witnesses to the text read inside.
Revelation 5:9 Most of the witnesses to the text read us in verse 9 and them in verse 10.
Revelation 5:10 A few witnesses to the text read us.
1 After these things I looked, and there was a door opened in heaven! And the first voice that I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after these things.” 2 Immediately I was in spirit. And look! A throne was standing in heaven, and someone was sitting on the throne. 3 The one who was sitting there looked like a jasper stone and a ruby. [1] Around the throne there was a rainbow that looked like an emerald.
4 Also around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and sitting on those thrones were twenty-four elders dressed in white garments, with gold crowns on their heads. 5 Out of the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings, and crashes of thunder. In front of the throne seven flaming lamps were burning, which are the seven spirits of God. 6 Also in front of the throne was something resembling a glassy sea, which was like crystal.
In the middle, near the throne and around the throne, there were four living creatures, full of eyes in front and in back. 7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature was like an ox, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. 8 Each one of the four living creatures had six wings, and the wings were full of eyes all around and underneath. [2] Day and night, without pause, they keep saying:
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and who is and who is coming.
9 Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to him who sits on the throne, the one who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders bow down before him who sits on the throne. They worship the one who lives forever and ever and lay down their crowns in front of his throne as they say:
11 Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power, for you have created all things, and because of your will they existed and were created.
Footnotes
Revelation 4:3 Or carnelian
Revelation 4:8 Literally inside. The English idiom for the inside of a wing is underneath, that is, the hidden side.
14 To the messenger of the church in Laodicea write:
The Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation, says this:
15 I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. If only you were cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm and not hot or cold, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, “I am rich. I have become very wealthy and need nothing.” But you do not know that you are miserable, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments, so that you may be clothed and the shame of your nakedness may not become public, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.
19 I rebuke and discipline those whom I love. So take this seriously and repent.
20 Look, I stand at the door and I am knocking. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will go in with him and dine with him, and he with me. 21 To the one who is victorious I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne.
22 Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
7 To the messenger of the church in Philadelphia write:
The Holy One, the one who is true, the one who has the key of David, the one who opens and no one can shut, and who shuts and no one can open, says this:
8 I know your works. Look, I have set before you an open door, which no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9 Look, I will make those who are from the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not but are lying—look, I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and make them realize that I have loved you. 10 Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will also keep you from the hour of testing, which is about to come over the whole inhabited world, to test those who dwell on the earth.
11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have so that no one takes your crown.
12 The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will never leave it again. I will also write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God—the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God—and my new name.
13 Whoever has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
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Tornadoes, hurricanes, heavy rainfall, forest fires—it’s been a busy fall for WELS Christian Aid and Relief, which responds on behalf of WELS members to reflect Christ’s love to people facing […]
Julie K. Wietzke Different histories, one future When we talk about reaching out to other cultures in the United States, we can’t ignore the amazing opportunities God is providing for […]
The synod’s new long-range plan, entitled “Christ through us,” has four main priorities. One of those four involves bringing Christ to the nations through our world mission efforts. Rev. Larry […]
Leaders from The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), the Evangelical Lutheran Synod (ELS), and the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) gathered last week near Jacksonville, Fla., for two days of theological […]
During 2025, WELS has commemorated the 175th anniversary of its founding, 175 years of God’s work among us and through us. Resources have been produced and presentations given. This year […]
The Synodical Council met Nov. 7–8 for its fall meeting at the Center for Mission and Ministry, Waukesha, Wis. The Synodical Council (SC) is the group of lay leaders and […]