Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity (One Year Lectionary)

Genesis 1:1—2:3
Psalm 8
Ephesians 6:10–17
John 4:46–54

God Declares Us Righteous Unsheathing His Word Against All Evil

“‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (Gen. 1:1—2:3). The Father speaks, and it is so. His Word accomplishes what it says. He created all things out of nothing through His Son by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Father’s creative Word became flesh in Jesus Christ, that He might restore fallen creation and save fallen man. To the nobleman whose son was deathly ill, Jesus says, “Go; your son will live” (John 4:46–54). And in the very hour Jesus spoke, the nobleman’s son was made well. The Word of Christ still accomplishes what it says. In baptism, absolution, and the Lord’s Supper, He declares His life–giving forgiveness to you, and it is so. This saving Word of God is the sword of the Spirit by which you are able to fight off all the onslaughts of the devil (Eph. 6:10–17). “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.”