Sermon 12-28-25

Pastor Ray Lorthioir

Trinity Lutheran Church

W. Hempstead, NY

 Includes the Gospel for the First Sunday After Christmas, Matthew 2:13-23.

Three Festivals

If you’ve let Christmas music into your life this season, you’ve no doubt heard a song that begins, “Good King Wenceslas looked out on the feast of Stephen where the snow lay round about deep and crisp and even.” What and when is the feast of Stephen? And who is this Stephen?

For millennia the church has celebrated December 26th — the day after Christmas — as St. Stephen’s Day. Reading in chapters four through six of Acts, we find out that in the very first months of the New Testament church wonderful good works were being done. Offerings were being brought in and these offerings were being distributed by the apostles to church members who had needs, especially widows.

However, as with any welfare system, a problem arose. For whatever reason, the apostles were consistently distributing welfare to local Aramaic speaking widows, but not so consistently to Greek speaking widows. So, the apostles were accused of favoritism. To this day accusations like this can destroy a ministry. But in the early months of the church it would have been absolutely devastating. There probably would be no Christians today if something hadn’t been done to remedy this situation and stop the accusations.

Before ascending to the Father’s right hand, Jesus had commissioned His apostles to preach the great good news of what He had accomplished on the cross. He commissioned them to preach the Gospel. He hadn’t commissioned them to run a welfare system. Therefore, we read in Acts 6:2-5, “2 And the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, ‘It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. 3 Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. 4 But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.’ 5 And what they said pleased the whole gathering. . . .”

The church picked seven men who fit the qualifications. They were called deacons — a name that literally means someone who renders service to another. Stephen was one of the seven deacons. So, we read in Acts 6:8-15,  “8 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. 9 Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. 10 But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. 11 Then they secretly instigated men who said, ‘We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.’ 12 And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, 13 and they set up false witnesses who said, ‘This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, 14 for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.’ 15 And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.”

Stephen was not an apostle. He was a deacon who served the apostles and served the church. However, the Lord used him mightily. For, nowhere do we read about any of the apostles looking like an angel.

Stephen gave a marvelous defense of himself before the Sanhedrin. All of Acts chapter seven records the sermon he preached to them. In it, Stephen compared Jesus to Joseph the son of Jacob and then to Moses. In their lifetimes, both these men had been rejected by Israel as leaders. Yet, Yahweh had made them rulers over Israel. Stephen preached that in the same way the Sanhedrin was rejecting Jesus. Nevertheless, Yahweh had made Jesus ruler over Israel.

Here’s how things ended. Acts 7:51-60, “51 [Stephen said to the Sanhedrin] ‘You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, 53 you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.’ 54 Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. 55 But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 And he said, ‘Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’ 57 But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. 58 Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ 60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ And when he had said this, he fell asleep.”

The terms “stiff-necked people” and “uncircumcised in heart and ears” are fighting words that Yahweh Himself first spoke against Israel to Moses. Yahweh uses such words of judgment to crush obstinate pride in His opponents and bring them to repentance. But the same Sanhedrin that had condemned Jesus to death wasn’t about to change its mind and repent. Instead, in their Jesus Derangement Syndrome and self-justification, they unjustly put to death a man with the face of an angel. Thus, Stephen became the first of those whom Jesus had predicted would be martyred because of Him. And like Jesus, Stephen prayed for his enemies.

This is the Stephen whose feast is celebrated every December 26th. So, notice what the early church did. It placed a memorial day to the first martyr the day after the celebration of Christ’s birth. What does this tell us?

December 27th is also a feast day. It’s St. John day. This is the apostle whom Jesus loved. And John wrote four books incorporated into the New Testament — the gospel named after him, three letters and the book of Revelation. John is the only one of the twelve — thirteen including St. Paul — who did not die a martyrs death.

John was given magnificent words to begin his gospel. John 1:1-8, 9-14, 16-17, “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. . . .  9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. . . . 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.”

John was given important words in his letters. For instance, 1John 4:15-17, “15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.”

And John was quite clear why he wrote. John 20:30-31, “30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” 1John 5:13, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.”

Today, December 28th, is the feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs. Who are the Holy Innocents? We just read about them in Matthew’s Gospel. These are the boys of Bethlehem two years of age and younger who were slaughtered by Herod’s cavalry. Bethlehem was a small village. It’s speculated that about a dozen children were killed — but probably more.

Two weeks ago I pointed out five constants that those who acquire and wield political power face. Here’s constant number one. Wherever there is power, there are those constantly scheming to take the highest position. Those in the highest positions must constantly defend themselves against all schemers. Letting disloyal schemers into the inner circles of power is most dangerous. Genuine schemers must be purged.

Herod the Great was no exception to this constant. He came by his kingship in a remarkable way — through the Roman Senate. He clung to power by flowing with the political winds of the time and eliminating schemers. And most of the schemers came from those within his family. The Jewish historian, Josephus, tells us that Herod had his 18 year old brother-in-law drowned. Herod executed one of his wives and her mother. He executed another brother-in-law. He also had three of his sons executed at various times. All were suspected of plotting against him.

Therefore, when Herod heard from the wise men that a King of the Jews worthy of their worship had been born, he knew what to do — eliminate the threat. And he would have succeeded if Yahweh hadn’t intervened, warning the wise men not to return to Herod after they had found Jesus. Foiled in his plot to eliminate the newborn king, Herod attempted elimination another way. Kill all the little boys in Bethlehem.

After doing this, Herod the Great lasted maybe another year and then died. Therefore, his attempt to eliminate the competition was basically pointless. It just added to the long list of evil for which he is accountable to his Creator.

As we’ve said before, Yahweh’s sworn enemy, Satan, usually doesn’t show up in person. He doesn’t have to. He has agents — human beings he’s deceived into doing his dirty work. Herod the Great was one of Satan’s agents — sent to find the Messiah and destroy Him.

Now, there will be those who will use the martyrdom of the Holy Innocents as one more reason to protest Yahweh. If He’s God, why did He allow such an atrocity to happen?

There’s an answer. It’s basically the same reason Yahweh permits all evil in thought, word and deed to happen. To get rid of evil He’d have to destroy all of us at once, similar to what He once did in the great Flood of Noah. This He’s not about to do at the present time. However it’s not as if Yahweh won’t do such a thing. For, He’s storing up His wrath and His most holy Justice for His Great Day when He will judge all the earth in Righteousness.

In the meantime, Yahweh is permitting Satan and evil to have a temporary place in this temporary world. All who despise Yahweh and His Righteousness; all who have pleasure in unrighteousness can luxuriate in Satan’s falsehoods in this temporary world. And then they can follow Satan into the Lake of Fire permanently.

So, are we rightly horrified at the martyrdom of the Holy Innocents? Good. We should be. For this incident demonstrates in all its horror what we’re all capable of, especially in the quest for power. Therefore, if we react in horror, we have been given a reason not to rail against God, but to fall on our knees in repentance. And those given the grace of God will do so. So, let us implore the Lord’s holy forgiveness not only for what our race is capable of, but for our personal rebellion against our Creator.

When Jesus was circumcised, the prophet Simeon told Mary in Luke 2:34-35, “34 . . . ‘Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed 35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.’” Certainly the three feast days that follow Christmas demonstrate the fulfillment of this prophecy.

In addition, Jesus Himself said in Luke 12:51-52, “51‘Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. 52 For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three.’” The fate of Stephen, the glorious writings of John and the fate of the Holy Innocents absolutely demonstrate what Jesus was talking about.

And there’s a most important reason for this division. We have to remember that when Satan tempted Eve, he told her in Genesis 3:5 “‘For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’” This can just as easily be translated, “you will be God, knowing good and evil.” And this is what the whole problem on this earth is. Who will be God? And it’s not just a big problem out there. It’s a problem in your heart and mine. Who will be God? It’s either me or my Creator. Which one?

As we’ve said many times before, the whole God issue can only be settled by Yahweh’s intervention. Without what Jesus calls being born again by water and the Spirit, all of us can only decide the question one way — I will be God. Therefore, we should not be surprised at what happened to Stephen and the Holy Innocents. Grinding teeth, holding ears shut and yelling at top volume like children at the things we don’t want to hear from our Creator is the condition Original Sin produces in us. The desire to get rid of Yahweh permanently is what comes to us naturally. 

On the other hand, the real surprise is what happened to John. For by the grace of God, by the power of Lord Holy Spirit, John was changed from a tough fisherman — whom Jesus called a son of thunder along with his brother, James — into the apostle who was given the Love of God to write about big time.

There is a way out of the God problem. There is a way to say Yahweh is God and there is no other god. There is a way out of all the evil and horror of this life. There is a way to fall on your knees like Thomas and cry out, “My Lord and my God.” It’s Mary of Nazareth’s baby.

As we read in John 1:12-13, “12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

This is the will of Yahweh for every person on this temporary earth. For being born of God is the only way to enter into permanent righteousness and the beauty of holiness. It’s the only way to stand forgiven in the presence of the Holy One. It’s the only way to enjoy the eternal righteous life Yahweh has prepared for all those who are called to love Him as He has loved us through His Son, Jesus. John 3:16-17, “16 ‘For  God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.’” This is the will of God for us — for you, for me. Amen.

All Bible quotes are from the ESV.