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“Very God of Very God: His Divine Names” Luke 4:22 *Click for Audio* Pastor Kevin Vogts Trinity Lutheran Church Paola, Kansas Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany—February 13, 2022 In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. During the Advent and Christmas seasons we focus on the HUMANITY of Christ, as we confess in the Nicene Creed, “Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary and was made man.” Scripture teaches that Jesus was not just a spirit being, but a true human man. Luke’s Gospel reports how he first shed his blood for us on the eighth day when he was circumcised, and when he was 12 years old that, “Jesus grew in wisdom and stature.” We read in the Gospels how he became hungry and tired. In the Garden of Gethsemane he said, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow,” from the cross he cried out, “I thirst,” and the shortest verse in the Bible tells us simply, “Jesus wept.” Paul puts it this way in 1st Timothy, “Beyond all question the mystery of godliness is great: God appeared in a body.” During the Epiphany season we are now in, which follows Advent and Christmas, we focus on another, corresponding teaching of the Nicene Creed, the DIVINITY of Christ: “The only-begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father.” This is the main point of distinction between Christianity and all other religions. Many other faiths, such as Islam, are willing to admit that Jesus of Nazareth was a great MAN. But, Christians profess he is more than a man, he is in fact, “Very God of Very God.” We base this belief on the witness of the Scriptures, in which he does divine WORKS, is given divine NAMES, possesses divine ATTRIBUTES, and has divine GLORY. Last week we began an Epiphany sermon series sermon series on those four topics by considering his divine WORKS. This morning we continue with his Divine NAMES.” We heard again during the Advent and Christmas seasons how before the holy child was born angels appeared, in person to Mary at the Annunciation and later in a dream to Joseph, and commanded that he be given the name Jesus, “because he will save his people from their sins.” “Jesus” is actually the Greek form of the Hebrew name “Joshua.” In Hebrew it means “The Lord Saves.” And so the Savior was named Joshua in Hebrew, Jesus in Greek, because that is WHO he is and WHAT he does. He is the LORD, who SAVES his people from their sins. “Christ” was not actually his last name, because they did not have last names in Biblical times. Christ is rather a title, meaning “The Anointed One,” the Messiah. Just as people sometimes think the title Christ was Jesus’ last name, little children sometimes think my title pastor is my first name, and it’s amusing that they’re surprised when they learn I do have a first name. In the same way, Jesus is more fully called Jesus THE Christ. Or, like Pastor Vogts, my title followed by my name, actually 40% of the time in the New Testament Jesus’ title is put first: Christ Jesus. Until the relatively recent invention of last names, people were referred to three different ways. Often it was by their occupation, which later transformed into many common last names: a Baker baked bread; a Miller milled grain; a Taylor sewed clothes. My own last name in German supposedly means a foreman or manager on a farm, so one of my ancestors must have had that occupation. Jesus’ name in Hebrew does indeed describe his DIVINE occupation, as the Savior of the world: Joshua, “The Lord Saves.” But, he WAS also known by his EARTHLY occupation. In Mark’s account of the events in today’s Gospel Reading, the people ask in astonishment, “What’s this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! Isn’t this the carpenter?” Another way people were referred to before the relatively recent invention of last names was by their father’s name. As today’s Gospel Reading reports: “All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. ‘Is this not Joseph’s son?’ they asked.” This custom likewise developed into a series of common last names: Johnson is literally, “John’s Son.” It’s the same for many last names: Robertson, Williamson, Jackson. And so, referring to his stepfather, the people Jesus grew up with ask in today’s Gospel Reading, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” The final way that people were referred to before the relatively recent invention of last names was by their hometown. In German this is with the word “von” meaning “from.” So, Martin Luther’s wife was “Katharina von Bora.” Although he doesn’t receive a warm welcome, in today’s Gospel Reading Jesus visits HIS hometown, and so over 100 times in the New Testament he is called “Jesus of—or from—Nazareth.” There is one verse in the New Testament that combines these last two naming customs to describe Jesus, both by his hometown and with his stepfather’s name: “Philip found Nathanael and told him, ‘We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” At the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry, the Gospels report that at his Baptism: “Heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.’” It may surprise you that many non-Christian religions, such as Islam and Mormonism, are ready to agree that Jesus was the Son of God. But, they mean that only in the generic sense. He is the Son of God only in the same way that we are children of God, as Malachi says, “Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us?” According to these false religions, you are, or can make yourself, just as much the Son of God as Jesus was the Son of God. That same heresy arose back in the early days of the Christian Church, and that is why our forefathers in the faith went to such pains in the Nicene Creed to proclaim that Jesus is unique, the only God-Man: “The only-begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father.” The Athanasian Creed is even more specific: “For the right faith is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man; God of the substance of the Father, begotten before all worlds; and man of the substance of his mother, born in the world; perfect God and perfect man.” Properly speaking, Jesus is in fact the ONLY true Son of God, the only one who has an INHERENT right to claim sonship of the Divine. For, though our heavenly Father is our creator, because of our sin we are all by nature spiritually separated, estranged from him. Like the sinful son in the Parable of the Prodigal Son, we all forfeited our birthright, our status as children of God, by our sinful rebellion. The father in that parable represents our heavenly Father, and to him we must all confess like the sinful son in the parable, “I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” But, Paul says in Galatians, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” Like the father in the parable who put the robe of sonship back on his son, your heavenly Father clothes you in the robe of Christ’s righteousness and gives you back your birthright. As a free gift, he bestows on you the privilege once again of being his beloved child. Paul explains in Ephesians, “In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.” On account of our Lord Jesus Christ’s sacrificial life, death and resurrection, your sins are all forgiven and you are welcomed back into the family of God. Just like in the parable, when the father says to his servants, “Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” At the end of the classic movie “Yours, Mine and Ours” there’s a joyous adoption scene when they all become one family. That’s what your Baptism really was, a spiritual adoption proceeding, through which your heavenly Father reclaimed you as his own child. In the parable the father puts a ring on his son’s finger, a symbol that he has been received back into the family and is his true son once again. In the same way, in Holy Baptism God places his Spirit within you, signifying that you are his true son once again. As Paul says in Galatians: “You are all sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” But, the difference is our sonship is by adoption, not an inherent right, but a gracious gift of God on account of Christ. Jesus’ OWN divine sonship is totally unique, “begotten of the Father from all eternity.” Jesus put it this way, “I and the Father are one.” No one else can make that claim, not Mohammed or Joseph Smith or Buddha or Krishna. When at his Baptism his heavenly Father declares, at the beginning of his earthly ministry, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” it means that he is more than a great man, more than a profound religious teacher, more than a famous figure from history. And at the end of his his earthly ministry, at his Transfiguration, the voice from the cloud reaffirms, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” God the Father is declaring that this carpenter from Nazareth is in fact, “Very God of Very God.” As the Apostle John says, “He is the true God and eternal life.” That is in fact THE distinctive doctrine of Christianity that is so detestable to many other religions, especially Islam. The official 9/11 Commission report stated, “Many Americans have wondered, ‘Why do they hate us?’” On the Internet I found ponderous articles in the New York Times, Washington Post, Newsweek and many other publications all asking that same question. But, the 9/11 Commission and all these articles miss the point. The true fanatics actually hate us for a reason those authors could never comprehend. Because, they hate us not for political or economic reasons, but on account of our ancient Christian confession: “For us men and for our salvation [he] came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary and was made man . . . the only-begotten Son of God . . . God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God.” The enemies of the Christian faith consider calling a mere man God to be gross blasphemy. And, that would be right, if he were a mere man. But, the Scriptures explicitly call him God and give him many divine names: Messiah, Savior, King of Kings, Lord of Lords. And God the Father himself declares at his Baptism and his Transfiguration, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” All these divine names testify that he IS divine. That is why Jesus himself declares: “All should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.” The real blasphemy is not professing, but rather denying that he is, “Very God of Very God.” Paul puts it this way in Philippians: “Being in very nature God, [he] did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Amen. Return to Top \| Return to Sermons \| Home \| Email Church Office

“Very God of Very God: His Divine Names”
Luke 4:22

Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas
Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany—February 13, 2022

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

During the Advent and Christmas seasons we focus on the HUMANITY of Christ, as we confess in the Nicene Creed, “Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary and was made man.”

Scripture teaches that Jesus was not just a spirit being, but a true human man. Luke’s Gospel reports how he first shed his blood for us on the eighth day when he was circumcised, and when he was 12 years old that, “Jesus grew in wisdom and stature.” We read in the Gospels how he became hungry and tired. In the Garden of Gethsemane he said, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow,” from the cross he cried out, “I thirst,” and the shortest verse in the Bible tells us simply, “Jesus wept.” Paul puts it this way in 1st Timothy, “Beyond all question the mystery of godliness is great: God appeared in a body.”

During the Epiphany season we are now in, which follows Advent and Christmas, we focus on another, corresponding teaching of the Nicene Creed, the DIVINITY of Christ: “The only-begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father.”

This is the main point of distinction between Christianity and all other religions. Many other faiths, such as Islam, are willing to admit that Jesus of Nazareth was a great MAN. But, Christians profess he is more than a man, he is in fact, “Very God of Very God.”

We base this belief on the witness of the Scriptures, in which he does divine WORKS, is given divine NAMES, possesses divine ATTRIBUTES, and has divine GLORY. Last week we began an Epiphany sermon series sermon series on those four topics by considering his divine WORKS. This morning we continue with his Divine NAMES.”

We heard again during the Advent and Christmas seasons how before the holy child was born angels appeared, in person to Mary at the Annunciation and later in a dream to Joseph, and commanded that he be given the name Jesus, “because he will save his people from their sins.” “Jesus” is actually the Greek form of the Hebrew name “Joshua.” In Hebrew it means “The Lord Saves.” And so the Savior was named Joshua in Hebrew, Jesus in Greek, because that is WHO he is and WHAT he does. He is the LORD, who SAVES his people from their sins.

“Christ” was not actually his last name, because they did not have last names in Biblical times. Christ is rather a title, meaning “The Anointed One,” the Messiah. Just as people sometimes think the title Christ was Jesus’ last name, little children sometimes think my title pastor is my first name, and it’s amusing that they’re surprised when they learn I do have a first name. In the same way, Jesus is more fully called Jesus THE Christ. Or, like Pastor Vogts, my title followed by my name, actually 40% of the time in the New Testament Jesus’ title is put first: Christ Jesus.

Until the relatively recent invention of last names, people were referred to three different ways. Often it was by their occupation, which later transformed into many common last names: a Baker baked bread; a Miller milled grain; a Taylor sewed clothes. My own last name in German supposedly means a foreman or manager on a farm, so one of my ancestors must have had that occupation.

Jesus’ name in Hebrew does indeed describe his DIVINE occupation, as the Savior of the world: Joshua, “The Lord Saves.” But, he WAS also known by his EARTHLY occupation. In Mark’s account of the events in today’s Gospel Reading, the people ask in astonishment, “What’s this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! Isn’t this the carpenter?”

Another way people were referred to before the relatively recent invention of last names was by their father’s name. As today’s Gospel Reading reports: “All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. ‘Is this not Joseph’s son?’ they asked.” This custom likewise developed into a series of common last names: Johnson is literally, “John’s Son.” It’s the same for many last names: Robertson, Williamson, Jackson. And so, referring to his stepfather, the people Jesus grew up with ask in today’s Gospel Reading, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”

The final way that people were referred to before the relatively recent invention of last names was by their hometown. In German this is with the word “von” meaning “from.” So, Martin Luther’s wife was “Katharina von Bora.” Although he doesn’t receive a warm welcome, in today’s Gospel Reading Jesus visits HIS hometown, and so over 100 times in the New Testament he is called “Jesus of—or from—Nazareth.”

There is one verse in the New Testament that combines these last two naming customs to describe Jesus, both by his hometown and with his stepfather’s name: “Philip found Nathanael and told him, ‘We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

At the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry, the Gospels report that at his Baptism: “Heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.’” It may surprise you that many non-Christian religions, such as Islam and Mormonism, are ready to agree that Jesus was the Son of God. But, they mean that only in the generic sense. He is the Son of God only in the same way that we are children of God, as Malachi says, “Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us?” According to these false religions, you are, or can make yourself, just as much the Son of God as Jesus was the Son of God.

That same heresy arose back in the early days of the Christian Church, and that is why our forefathers in the faith went to such pains in the Nicene Creed to proclaim that Jesus is unique, the only God-Man: “The only-begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father.” The Athanasian Creed is even more specific: “For the right faith is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man; God of the substance of the Father, begotten before all worlds; and man of the substance of his mother, born in the world; perfect God and perfect man.”

Properly speaking, Jesus is in fact the ONLY true Son of God, the only one who has an INHERENT right to claim sonship of the Divine. For, though our heavenly Father is our creator, because of our sin we are all by nature spiritually separated, estranged from him. Like the sinful son in the Parable of the Prodigal Son, we all forfeited our birthright, our status as children of God, by our sinful rebellion. The father in that parable represents our heavenly Father, and to him we must all confess like the sinful son in the parable, “I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”

But, Paul says in Galatians, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” Like the father in the parable who put the robe of sonship back on his son, your heavenly Father clothes you in the robe of Christ’s righteousness and gives you back your birthright. As a free gift, he bestows on you the privilege once again of being his beloved child. Paul explains in Ephesians, “In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.”

On account of our Lord Jesus Christ’s sacrificial life, death and resurrection, your sins are all forgiven and you are welcomed back into the family of God. Just like in the parable, when the father says to his servants, “Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”

At the end of the classic movie “Yours, Mine and Ours” there’s a joyous adoption scene when they all become one family. That’s what your Baptism really was, a spiritual adoption proceeding, through which your heavenly Father reclaimed you as his own child.

In the parable the father puts a ring on his son’s finger, a symbol that he has

been received back into the family and is his true son once again. In the same way, in Holy Baptism God places his Spirit within you, signifying that you are his true son once again. As Paul says in Galatians: “You are all sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”

But, the difference is our sonship is by adoption, not an inherent right, but a gracious gift of God on account of Christ. Jesus’ OWN divine sonship is totally unique, “begotten of the Father from all eternity.” Jesus put it this way, “I and the Father are one.”

No one else can make that claim, not Mohammed or Joseph Smith or Buddha or Krishna. When at his Baptism his heavenly Father declares, at the beginning of his earthly ministry, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” it means that he is more than a great man, more than a profound religious teacher, more than a famous figure from history. And at the end of his his earthly ministry, at his Transfiguration, the voice from the cloud reaffirms, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” God the Father is declaring that this carpenter from Nazareth is in fact, “Very God of Very God.” As the Apostle John says, “He is the true God and eternal life.”

That is in fact THE distinctive doctrine of Christianity that is so detestable to many other religions, especially Islam. The official 9/11 Commission report stated, “Many Americans have wondered, ‘Why do they hate us?’” On the Internet I found ponderous articles in the New York Times, Washington Post, Newsweek and many other publications all asking that same question. But, the 9/11 Commission and all these articles miss the point. The true fanatics actually hate us for a reason those authors could never comprehend. Because, they hate us not for political or economic reasons, but on account of our ancient Christian confession: “For us men and for our salvation [he] came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary and was made man . . . the only-begotten Son of God . . . God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God.”

The enemies of the Christian faith consider calling a mere man God to be gross blasphemy. And, that would be right, if he were a mere man. But, the Scriptures explicitly call him God and give him many divine names: Messiah, Savior, King of Kings, Lord of Lords. And God the Father himself declares at his Baptism and his Transfiguration, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

All these divine names testify that he IS divine. That is why Jesus himself declares: “All should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.” The real blasphemy is not professing, but rather denying that he is, “Very God of Very God.”

Paul puts it this way in Philippians: “Being in very nature God, [he] did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Amen.

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