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Psalm 123
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To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens! Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he has mercy upon us. Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt. Our soul has had more than enough of the scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud. (ESV)
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Look to Jesus
Friedrich Wyneken, Pastor and Missionary
4 May 2012
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The Civil War battle of Shiloh (6-7 April 1862) was the bloodiest engagement of the war until that time. There were enormous casualties on both sides. The doctors who sought to treat the wounded recognized that the closer to the field of battle the medical care could be given the more likely it was that the soldier could be saved. They also realized that soldiers who had received treatment for wounds were more likely to recover if they were not moved from the field to a distant hospital for convalescence. The doctors who did the bloody work at the Union field hospital at the battle worked with amazing discipline, because they focused on the needs of their patients while they could hear the horrifying din of the battle raging nearby. The battle never stopped; the cannon thundered and the bullets tore the leaves of nearby trees. Their boys seemed to be pushing back their foes. Then their boys were taking a licking by a determined adversary. How easy it would have been to focus on the din and horror of the battle, rather than on the work at hand. The wounded would have been lost if the medical staff would have concentrated on the battle rather than on saving the wounded.
The din that buzzes around in our hearts in the ongoing battle between flesh and spirit can easily distract us from the saving work of Christ. The bronze serpent must be kept in full view . Our eyes must be riveted upon it, no matter what is flying around our heads, no matter how we struggle with our trials and suffering. Here is our salvation. The medicine of immortality must be taken at the hand of the physician whom God sends to us. A "hornet's nest" of ordnance might be flung at us, but that cannot undo the perfect victory over our sin won by the crucified and resurrected Lord Jesus. Our life and peace are secure in the hands of Christ the physician of the souls of His patients.
Oh yes, battlefield wounds are messy, but we are neither defined nor healed by our wounds themselves, we are saved by the care for the soul administered by Christ, God's Son. Only the wounds of the eternal Son of God bring healing to our wounds. We look for Him like the mangled and gory soldier looks desperately for the doctor dispensing care in the field hospital. He knows He is wounded unto death without that care.
We feel the wound unto death when we hear the screaming conflict that arises within us. The law only serves to make our failure clear. Heart, mind, and flesh all are howling "guilty!" Our eyes can then only look to Him who alone brings healing. Jesus is the physician who will focus only on our need and seeks to draw the eyes of faith to His cross and away from us. He invites those who are wounded to come to Him. "He said to them, 'Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners'" (Mk 2:17). For to look upon Him and His cross is to see beyond the shattering combat that rages across the battlefield of our hearts. Look to Jesus. | |
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Martin Luther
"No one will avoid those desires, who live in the flesh. Therefore, no one will ever be free of trials. Some are plagued by this trial and others by that, because people vary. Here some are troubled by the deeper passions; by spiritual trial, blasphemy, carelessness, despair, etc. Others are troubled by the more common sins; sexual depravity, wrath, hatred, etc. But there Paul requires that we walk by the Spirit and that we resist the flesh. For whoever yields to the flesh and securely hastens to fulfill its desires, he knows that he is not connected to Christ, although he conspicuously decks himself out with the name of Christian. However, he has deceived himself. 'Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires' (Gal 5:24).
Martin Luther, Lectures on Galatians, 5.19
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Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, our death closes in on us. We feel its horrible approach. We experience it in the battle that goes on within us. We look out of ourselves to see Your cross, and in it to see our life and healing. You are the bronze serpent in whom alone there is life. We look to you. Amen.
For Jackie Alexander, who is gravely ill, that she might have the peace that surpasses human understanding
For President Matthew Harrison of the LCMS, that the Lord Jesus would continue to grant him every blessing
For those who are receiving the sacrament of holy baptism this Sunday, that they might be drowned unto new life with Christ
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Art: DUBOIS, Thomas Lamb of God
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 © Scott R. Murray, 2012
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