Christ Lutheran Church
Cleveland, Ohio
December 29, 2024
by: Rev. Dean Kavouras
Christmas 1C
The Firstborn
“And the LORD spoke to Moses saying, "Sanctify to Me (kadash / hagiadzo) every Firstborn that opens every womb among the sons of Israel, both of man and of animal: he is mine."
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When God does something for his beloved Creation he does it big! He does it this way so that no one can dismiss it; so that every person who sees it should stand up, take notice, marvel and believe and do what today’s Psalm admonishes: Praise the LORD!
But he does not always start out big.
Talk about small starts when the Lord God promised Abraham that he would be not only a father, but the father of many nations, Abraham was perplexed. He told Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky, and the sands of the seashore, and that is exactly what happened. But there was a problem: Abraham was 99 years old, and his wife 86.
But God, who turns mustard seeds into flourishing trees on which the birds of the air can build their nests, and find sustenance and safety; kept his promise.
He did the same thing in the “Little Town of Bethlehem” which according to the prophet Micah was the tiniest of the towns of Judah, meaning that nothing very promising could ever start there! But see the results. The entire, innumerable church of heaven and earth sprang from that little town whose glories we sing each Christmas.
And in a modern day example there is a Lutheran woman who, in her late 50’s, her children grown, wondered if she should take deaconess training by which she could serve her church as a consecrated deaconess. But she highly doubted that she should do it because she lived in a small town where she had no chance of finding a position. But for some reason she went forward.
To make a long story short before she graduated her professors noticed her intelligence, dedication, faith, and her highly accomplished talents as a church musician. Not only did she graduate but was called upon by our church body, the LCMS, to create Lutheran worship materials and hymnals for several African nations in their own language; as well as for Malaysia and Indonesia with more still to come. Again our God turned something small into something big.
That said our God does not always start small.
We find this to be the case in today’s Old Testament reading which focuses on the Firstborn; and hear what the LORD says in Exodus 13:2 "Sanctify to me every Firstborn that opens every womb among the sons of Israel, both of man and of animal: he is mine."
Why this command? There are two reasons. First because the LORD struck down all the firstborn of Egypt when Pharaoh refused 9 out of 9 times to let God’s people go. He was the immoveable object! Or so he thought! And so the LORD introduced him the Unstoppable Force. He KILLED all the firstborn throughout the land of Egypt, both man and animal, after which Pharaoh relented.
But there is another reason having to do with Christmas, which is why this reading is appointed for this Sunday, it is this: That Jesus is the Firstborn of all creation, the Firstborn from among the dead and the Firstborn of many brothers! But now, in Christ, our God would do the very opposite that He did in Egypt. He who killed the firstborn of the Egyptians, also sanctified every Firstborn of Israel for himself.
Before proceeding we should learn that in Scripture the firstborn is not only a matter of birth order, but more importantly an Office; because whatever the firstborn does, so do all those who follow.
We said earlier that God often starts small to make something huge, but this is a case where he starts on a huge scale that will become even bigger. Eternally more grand so that as the Psalmist says, “such knowledge is too wonderful for me, I cannot attain to it.” (Ps. 139)
We learn in today’s Old Testament reading that all firstborn males belong to God. That they are to be sanctified to the LORD, and this is exactly what we find taking place in today’s gospel.
The LORD, through Moses, gives his people the very liturgical language, His own words, that they are to use when they sanctify their Firstborn to the LORD. In doing so they acknowledge by this liturgical action that this child is comes from God, and that they while they can claim him as their own, they also OFFER Him back to God.
Whenever we give an OFFERING to God as we do every Sunday, we are doing something similar. We recognize that our subsistence comes from our God, and that without his blessing, however otherwise brilliant or hard-working we may be, we would all soon become impoverished and die a slow death of want. And so people who love God have always given up a part of the gifts that God gives them by returning 10% to him. That is the Biblical standard of giving, that each person should give 10% of his income to the Lord.
But as we learn it was not only their worldly goods that people offered to the LORD – but also their Firstborn sons. Indeed every time a father sanctified his FIRSTBORN to the LORD he was saying by that action, over and over again:
The Body of Christ
The Body of Christ
The body of Christ
The body of Christ
Directing our faith to the Incarnate Word in the manger, on the cross, and in the Holy Supper.
All that said let us hear what the Bible has to say about our Lord Jesus Christ. Namely that he is:
The Firstborn of all creation (Col. 1:15)
The Firstborn from among the dead (Rev. 1:5)
The Firstborn of many brothers. (Rom. 8:29)
Beloved Christ Jesus is THE Son of God, and by grace through faith, we are the many brothers who follow Him into life, death, resurrection and ascension. We follow him into the New Creation that he inaugurated of which St. John writes, “By Him were all things created, and without Him was nothing made that was made.” And again when the same Evangelist writes, “the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.” (Jn 1:14)
With this faith and understanding let us hear the words of the hymn Praise The Lord Ye Sons of Men, written by Niklaus Herman, a contemporary of Martin Luther.
Oh, then rejoice that through His Son
God is with sinners now at one;
Made like yourselves of flesh and blood,
Your brother is the eternal God.
Amen