Questions from Devotions and Christian Reformers
by Pastor Walter Snyder

Two of today's questions involve a series of devotions I wrote for ~Portals of Prayer~, an official
devotional quarterly from The Lutheran Church---Missouri Synod.

Q: Your 24 December devotion refers to the baby Jesus as Isaiah's Servant. Why is this?
I've never heard of Jesus referred to that way. The passage in question reads, "The Word
of God again proved itself true. Eve's Seed, Abraham's Blessing, David's greater Son, and
Isaiah's Servant lay in a Bethlehem feed trough."

A: Note the preceding sentence to what you quote: "The prophesied Messiah was a newborn
Babe in a stable." Each of these titles comes from a specific prophecy. Genesis 3:15 introduces
Eve's Seed. Cursing the serpent, God said, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and
between your offspring [seed] and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his
heel." Fulfillment takes place in Christ's Passion, as Satan strikes Him down only to be struck
even lower by Jesus' perfect sacrifice.

The Lord refers to Abraham's Blessing in several places in Genesis. The clearest may be in 22:18,
following Abraham's obedience concerning Isaac's sacrifice. There God says, "In your offspring
shall all the nations of the earth be blessed...." While certainly many of Abraham's descendents
proved themselves blessings to others, only Christ Jesus brings God's blessing to all people.

David's greater Son (a title from the hymn "Hail to the Lord's Anointed"), whom some might first
think was Solomon (cf. 2 Sam 7:1-17 and Ps 72), must be the God-Man, Jesus Christ. Only in
Him does the Lord "establish the throne of His kingdom forever. (2 Sam 7:13)" Jesus did not
"commit iniquity" but still felt the "discipline" of "the stripes of the sons of men. (2 Sam 7:14)"
He bore the punishment due us and "with His stripes we are healed. (Is 53:5; cf. 1 Pet 2:24)"

This forges the connection to Isaiah's Servant. Introduced in Isaiah 42, this Servant perfectly
attends to the will of the Lord, keeping the Old Covenant and establishing the New in humble
perfection. His "job description" and accompanying struggle and pain continue in 49:1-13 and
50:4-9, culminating in the "Suffering Servant Song" of Isaiah 52:13-53:12. What believer can
read these verses without immediately thinking of our Savior's suffering and death?

Of course, this Servant is not truly "of" Isaiah. As the Lord sprouts Eve's Seed in the Virgin birth,
establishes Abraham's Blessing in the Gospel's spread, and embodies David's greater Son in the
Incarnation, so He calls and anoints the Servant of whom He gives Isaiah privilege of prophecy.

Q: Thank God for servants like you with a gift for sharing the good news. The 7 December
devotion says, "Jesus also forgives us in words of mercy beyond measure when we
wrathfully hurl harmful words rather than carefully measure our response." I know space
is limited, is it implied that Jesus mercy comes to us only after we repent and ask for His
forgiveness? Some "believers" leave the repentance part out.

A: True repentance only comes through faith created by the Holy Spirit working through the
Gospel. Thus, as the hymn states, "Today Your mercy calls us." We cannot call upon God unless
He moves us so to do. In mercy, God in Christ calls us to repent and believe in the forgiveness
that is already ours. Repentance is the believer's response to both the Law's rebuke and the
Gospel's forgiveness. Thus, the mercy flows from God of His own volition, an unmerited gift to
us because of the sacrifice of Christ. When we know and believe that this mercy is for us, we take
possession of the treasure that God has already granted us.

Q: Were there other, unsuccessful, reformers in the Church before Martin Luther?

A: Christendom had numerous reformers before Luther. John Hus of Bohemia, Girolamo
Savonarola of Italy, and John Wyclif of England all preceded Luther. Actually, "reformation"
remains a constant in Christianity; heresy, moral misbehavior, and other sins constantly threaten
the faith. In some ways, even the New Testament writers, especially the epistle authors, were
reformers, since each dealt with false teaching or misbehavior within the Body of Christ.

Branding anyone a success or failure depends greatly upon our definition of "failure." In April
1498, Savonarola was arrested, tried for sedition and heresy, and cruelly tortured. Hus was
condemned and burned as a heretic. Wyclif avoided execution but several decades after he died,
Church authorities condemned him for heresy, dug up his body, burned it, and threw his ashes
into the Swift River. Yet each of these not only had positive influence on his own times, but also
provided a platform upon which subsequent reformers could build. Ultimately, each was a
"success" as he was "faithful unto death" and thus received "the crown of life. (Rev 2:10)"

Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from ~The Holy Bible, English Standard
Version~<TM>, © 2001 by Crossway Bibles.

Ask the Pastor, © 2004 by Walter P. Snyder. It may be reproduced in totality, including this disclaimer,
by anyone, provided that no profit is generated by said republication and redistribution. Translations
into other languages should similarly note the United States and any appropriate international
copyrights, as well as God's Scriptural injunctions concerning the property of others.

Walter Snyder is the pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Emma, Missouri and coauthor of the book
~What Do Lutherans Believe.~